Element Warriors
by Rose Kunoichi
Summary: Odin, Sonny, Rose, and Aki can manipulate elements, and they set out to slay a dragon to free Japan from Lord Oromashi's rule.
1. Prologue

_The Element Warriors_

A long time ago in Japan, people believed in the power of the four elements. There have been people who dedicated their lives to studying the ways of one element. In time, they learned to generate and manipulate it for their own means. Like many cultures, they would pass this knowledge down to their children.

The harmony of the elements was disrupted when Lord Oromashi began his reign over Japan. He craved power and had a dragon on his side, and nobody dared to defy him. If they did, they became the dragon's meal. Nobody could manipulate elements unless they joined his army.

One woman ignored the danger of Lord Oromashi's punishments. She left her home among the rice fields to learn the remaining three elements: fire, earth, and wind. Through five years of traveling around the country and being taught in secret, she accomplished this goal. By acts of heroism, her name, Keiko, became known across all of Japan.

**Prologue**

Keiko opened her eyes when she felt the warm sunlight on her face. Even though people knew of her acts against Lord Oromashi, they refused to house Keiko because of fear. She didn't blame them either, but she knew if she could only slay that dragon, the people would rise up against Lord Oromashi. The thought made her smile to think of the people living descent lives again. People living like slaves wasn't the kind of life Keiko thought was acceptable for anyone.

She got on her feet and turned to admire the beauty of the sakura blossom tree she chose to sleep under. Through five years, she finally understood why Lord Oromashi prohibited element influencing. He saw their abilities as a threat to him. The lord obviously didn't understand the people. People didn't use the elements for power. They loved the elements and respected them.

Keiko's thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone screaming. She grabbed her tonfa blasters from her belt holster and ran in the direction of the noise.

When she reached the source, she found a man with glasses and a long white coat was being circled by four soldiers. Keiko quickly hide behind a nearby tree. Thankfully, none of them noticed her. The soldiers were too concerned with the man they had cornered.

Looking at them, Keiko knew three of the soldiers could manipulate fire and the other specialized in earth. It was simple because of the color of their clothes. All soldiers wore white zubon, but their uwagi and obi belt depended on the element they specialised in: red, brown, blue, and light green.

"You're a threat to Lord Oromashi with your inventions. Now come with us and don't cause any trouble," stated the earth manipulator.

"No, please! I'll stop inventing contraptions. Please!" pleaded the defenseless man.

"What you can stop doing is stalling. Now move it!" yelled one of the fire experts. With a punch of his fist, he sent fire at the prisoner. The man jumped and fell to the ground.

Keiko knew she needed to do something. She jumped away from the tree and fired her tonfa blasters at the one soldier. The force of her weapons sent her backwards, and she dodged some fire one of the soldiers sent her way. Keiko tried running around the tree she hide behind to get a new angle on her opponents but tripped. Immediately, thorn vines started wrapping around her feet and legs.

"Well, isn't it our lucky day boys," said the earth soldier with a grin. "Not only do we get to bring in that coward of a scientist, but we caught public enemy number one."

The four soldiers started laughing, and the frightened scientist helplessly watched Keiko.

Keiko winced at the pain the vines brought to her legs. She said, "You forgot one thing."

"And what's that?" asked the earth soldier with laughter still in his voice.

"I'm worth a fortune for a reason."

The vines that were wrapping themselves around Keiko's legs freed its captive, grew ten times larger, and engulfed the soldiers.

Keiko got up and put her tonfa blasters in their holsters. She ran over to the shocked scientist and pulled him up off the ground. "Come on. That's not going to hold them forever."

With his hand in hers, she guided them away as fast as she could. Her wind master always taught Keiko to remain calm like the peaceful winds. Right now, she had to be calm for two people. The scientist was shaking so badly, his nerves were probably a wreck.

Keiko looked over her shoulder and saw fire erupt into the sky. She stopped and the scientist did the same. Keiko knew she couldn't outrun four men, especially dragging the scientist around. Their only chance was to hide and fast.

She looked around and spotted a tree. Water must have washed dirt away from its base because there was room underneath it. There wasn't enough room for the both of them so she had to create more room. Lowering the earth beneath the tree could threaten its stability. She knew it was risky, but she had to try.

Very carefully, Keiko started moving the earth beneath the tree into a downward dome shape. When she was finished, she was relieved that the tree itself didn't move.

She ordered the scientist to get in, and he did as was told. Keiko followed him and created a layer of earth above them. The layer touched the bottom of the tree trunk and sloped downward slightly. She hoped it looked normal so the soldiers wouldn't notice if they came by.

After a few minutes, Keiko heard the soldiers run by. After waiting close to an hour in silence and didn't hear the soldiers come back, the scientist finally spoke.

"My name is Lee Wong. I take it that you're the famous Keiko."

"You guessed right. I don't think the soldiers are coming back," said Keiko.

She let the layer of dirt above them go, and the two of them were covered in it. Lee Wong was coughing while Keiko messaged her arm.

"We should head back to my home. We'll be safe there," said Lee after he stopped coughing.

"That's the first place the soldiers will look for you, but do as you please."

Keiko grabbed one of the tree's roots and pulled herself up out of the hole she created.

"No. I have a devise at my home. If I can analyse your element abilities with the machine, it can be the ultimate security system. Helping people is what you do, right?" pleaded Lee.

Keiko held out her hand, which the man accepted. She helped pull him out, and replaced the dome with earth. She turned to Lee and said, " I guess it's worth a shot."

Lee Wong lead the way while Keiko remained alert of their surroundings. She didn't want to take any chances of getting ambushed.

When they reached the house, Lee quickly unlocked the door and left Keiko in. Even before Lee lit a match to light a lantern, Keiko caught a glimpse of his house. Unexplainable machines were all over the place.

"Please. My invention is this way," said Lee as he lead the way around his home. He finally stopped at a table with straps. It had cords traveling from it to four different glass cylinder chambers.

"This is your security machine?" asked Keiko, looking at the whole setting with confusing.

"Yes. All you have to do is let me strap you onto the table, and I'll run my machine."

"I thought you said the machine would analyze my abilities," said Keiko. "How would the machine do that if I'm strapped down?"

"That's how I programmed it. Having the machine analyze you performing all your abilities would take too long."

Lee went to the table and opened all the straps. Keiko reluctantly walked over to the table. When she laid down on the table, Lee quickly strapped her in.

He left Keiko to go to the control panel of his machine. He turned on the machine, and the glass cylinders lighted up. What came next was something Keiko didn't expect. Thin, short rods of steel shot up through her arms and legs.

Keiko screamed in agonizing pain. "What's going on?"

Lee pushed another button, and Keiko started to feel weak. On the glass chambers glowed red.

"I'm draining the elements from your body. Without them, you'll no longer pose a threat to Lord Oromashi," said Lee.

Keiko would have said something in return, but she couldn't find the energy to do so. When the procedure was done, the glass chamber was full of red liquid. Lee pushed another button and the second chamber glowed light green. By the time Lee was done, all the chambers were full of colored liquid: red, light green, blue, and brown.

Lee Wong was proud of his accomplishment and ran to tell Lord Oromashi of his success. Keiko was all alone and defenseless. She couldn't feel anything. So weak, so tired, Keiko quickly lost consciousness.

When Keiko finally woke up, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. She tried to free herself but failed miserably. Her effort only made her tired. She looked at the glass chambers that contained everything she once had.

They seemed different. She could see herself in the glass chambers. For a moment, Keiko thought she was going crazy. She looked away and said, "It must be my reflection."

She felt like crying but not tears formed at her eyes. She thought, "How could I have been such a fool?"

Keiko looked around some more. She had absolutely no idea how long she slept. It could have been days or even weeks. It seemed the longer she stayed awake, the more weak she felt.

Before Keiko fell asleep again, she knew she was going to die strapped to this table.

The next time Keiko woke up, she didn't try to free herself. She knew it would only make her weak faster. On the other hand, she decided to merely look around.

When Keiko's eyes caught the sight of the glass chambers, she noticed a drastic change. They were no longer filled with glowing colored liquid. Instead, they each contained a girl that looked like Keiko with some differences. The girl in the fire chamber had white hair and a tan. The next girl that formed from the wind had brown hair. Then, the girl from the water chamber had blue hair, and the last girl in the earth chamber had red hair.

Keiko cried out to them. When she did, her voice was so low it was a miracle she was talking at all. She started feeling weak, but Keiko didn't stop crying but to these girls. Just when Keiko was about to lose consciousness, the girl in the fire chamber finally woke up.

It took a while for this girl to come to her senses. When she did, she realized that Keiko was crying for her. She began beating on the glass with her fists. Finally, she broke the glass so she could get out. Her knuckles were all bloody.

The girl took about a minute to reach Keiko because she never used her legs before. She wabbled around until she discovered her balance. She looked around at Keiko and released the straps. For the first time, the white-haired girl looked around and noticed the other girls in the glass chambers. She grabbed one of Keiko's tonfa blasters and ran towards the chambers. Turning the blaster around to use it like a baton, she smashed in the glass.

After freeing all the girls, this girl from the fire chamber realized Keiko lost consciousness. She ran over to Keiko and started shaking her but she stayed asleep.

The girl abandoned her attempts to wake up Keiko and ran to awaken the other girls. She succeeded this time. The girl with brown hair opened her eyes.

"Who are you?" asked the brunette.

"I could ask you the same," replied the white-haired girl. "I don't know where we are either. All I know is that that woman over there was crying for help."

The girl of wind attempted to stand up but fell over. With the aid of the other girl, she walked over to examine Keiko.

"If she was crying for help, it's probably not safe here," claimed the brunette.

"What should we do then?"

The brunette separated herself from the girl and began walking around while using the table for minimal support. Once she was comfortable walking on her own, she finally answered the other girl's question.

"I'll carry this woman out. Do you believe you're capable carrying those other two girls?"

The girl of fire replaced Keiko's tonfa blaster in her holster and walked over to the girls. With much effort, she managed to get them over her shoulders.

The brunette carefully slid Keiko's arms and legs out of the steel rods. Then she hoisted Keiko into her arms. The women fled Lee Wong's house and into the darkness of the night.


	2. Keiko's Importance

**Keiko's Importance**

It was morning when Keiko finally opened her eyes. She was next to a stream and nobody was around. A wave of confusion ran over her. "Was that just a huge nightmare or did it really happen?"

Keiko rubbed her eyes and noticed the bandages on her arms.

"Well, that rules out the optimistic idea of it being a dream."

Keiko got to her feet and walked over to the stream to get a drink. After drinking several handfuls of water, she stopped to actually look at her hands. Keiko didn't notice that her skin looked old earlier. She ran her hand through her hair and saw grey strands mixed in with the black.

Keiko got down on her hands and knees and looked at her reflection in the stream. She had deep wrinkles in her face and crow's feet at her eyes. She was shocked. Keiko was only 23-years-old and she already lost her youth.

The elements were very important. Without them existing within her essence, she knew she wouldn't live much longer.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Keiko turned around in surprise.

The brunette walked out of the tree line, and the other three girls were following her. They all had a handfull of apples in their arms.

"How long have I been out?" asked Keiko.

"A couple days," answered the red-head.

The girls knelt down and put their collection in a pile. The red-head took one of the apples, walked over to Keiko, and gave it to her.

Keiko ate the whole apple before saying, "You don't have names do you?"

"No. We thought that maybe you would know," said the brunette.

"Do you even know how to control your elements?" asked Keiko, a little worried.

The four girls just stared at Keiko with quizzical expressions on their faces.

"Fine. First, I'll give you names, and I will begin teaching you how to manipulate your elements," replied Keiko.

"You were created from my elemental energy. I don't know exactly how, I just know that's how you came to be. It would be a good reason why all of you look exactly like me with the exception of your hair."

Keiko looked at the red-head and put her hand on the girl's bare shoulder.

"You formed from earth. I think I'll name you Rose. It's my favorite flower."

Rose turned her face away and began to blush.

Keiko looked at the blue-haired girl. "You were in the water chamber. I'm going to name you Aki. It sort of sounds like aqua."

Now Keiko focused her attention on the girl of fire. "I think you're name should be Sonny. After all, the sun is the most powerful source of fire there is."

When Keiko turned to the brunette, she found it to be a challenge to name her. She couldn't think of anything exceptional that was wind related. Finally, Keiko said, "I know you'll be upset with this name, but it's the best I can come up with. Odin."

"Odin. Isn't that a man's name?" asked Aki. She put her arms over her stomach and began to laugh histarically.

"Yes, but it's a strong name. Odin is a Nordic god. His domain is wisdom, among other things. I have a good feeling you'll follow in his footsteps," said Keiko.

Keiko sat down and started to eat more apples with the girls. It seemed like the perfect time for Keiko to tell them about the history of the elements, of Lord Oromashi, and of the incident with Lee Wong.

"So this dragon, have you ever seen it?" asked Odin.

"No," replied Keiko. "I've never witnessed its power. I only heard rumors."

"What kind of rumors?" asked Aki.

"That it can breathe fire as hot as the sun itself. It's skin is impenitrable, weapons are useless against it. I remind you though, they're only rumors," said Keiko.

"Since Lee Wong took away your abilities, you'll no longer be able to bring down this dragon yourself?" asked Rose, upset.

"I'm afraid that's correct."

"Let me guess, you expect us to kill this dragon in your place," said Sonny.

That dampened Keiko's hopes. There was no doubt that Keiko thought about these four girls succeeding in her goal of freeing the Japanese of Lord Oromashi's cluches. She looked down and replied almost painfully, "That's your choice. I want you to do what you want to do." Keiko stood up, walked over to the stream, sat down, and watched as the water flowed by.

The four girls just looked at each other. They didn't know what to say. After a while, Sonny got up and walked over to Keiko. "I'll fight the dragon."

Keiko looked at the girl in amazement. "Why?"

"Mostly for the simple fact that you gave me the choice."

"Yeah, besides I owe you one because after all, we exist because of you," exclaimed Aki with a huge smile. Aki looked at Rose and Odin. "Are you in?"

Rose said, "Using beautiful plants and the earth itself to fight bad guys to help the people, count me in."

Aki shouted for joy and hugged Rose. Keiko and Sonny laughed and turned their attention to Odin.

"It's dangerous and we'll find ourselves in difficult situations," said Odin. She shrugged her shoulders and continued, "I guess that's a good reason I should tag along."

The four girls laughed, and Sonny walked back to join the group.

Keiko simply stayed where she was. She let out a breath of relief.

* * *

><p>The next day, Rose began her training. Keiko was astonished because what took her seven months to learn, Rose comprehended in only one day.<p>

She was moving the earth and created so many plants. It was almost like second nature to Rose, and barely needed Keiko's help. When Keiko instructed Rose how to manipulate the earth or even create plants, Rose continued on and made her imagionation come to life. She made sakura blossom trees, different size vines, and even different colored roses.

To help the others for dinner, Rose made spears so Odin, Sonny, and Aki could fish with them. She also made an assortment of fruit, which was a delicious addition.

As Keiko ate her dinner, she couldn't help but think about the day. It made her proud that Rose mastered earth so quickly. Perhaps training these girls would be easier than she initially thought.

Rose was so happy when she was influencing the earth, and it made Keiko realize something. Rose enjoyed the beauty of her ablilties, just like every earth manipulator before her.

Keiko ran her eyes across all the girls. Her wind master was right about peaceful winds, they're calm. From being around Odin, it seemed like that was a huge fctor in her personality. She caught the most fish today because she was extremely patient.

Sonny was the complete opposite. She got upset everytime a fish got away from her, yet she never took this anger out on the others.

Aki loved to laugh and enjoy herself. Free flowing can be a way to describe her.

The elements deeply influenced these girls.

Hopefully, the other three girls would learn their abilities as quickly as Rose did. If they didn't, Keiko feared she wouldn't be around long enought to teach them.

* * *

><p>The next day, Aki learned the ways of water in not time at all. Keiko made Aki start out by manipulating the water running through the stream, and by the end she was generating water on her own. Aki could turn water into ice and back. She even made spheres of water to catch fish for dinner.<p>

The following day was Odin's day to train. She followed the learning pattern of the other girls. Odin could send out powerful gusts of wind and even made a tornado.

Keiko saved Sonny's training for last because she knew it would be the toughest.

* * *

><p>"Now try to focus and do a fire punch," said Keiko.<p>

Sonny tried but nothig came out of her fist. She tried again and nothing. The more Sonny tried, the more frustrated she became. When fire finally emerged from her fist, it was a huge eruption. Odin, Rose, and Aki jumped back with astonishment, but Keiko remained unimpressed.

"Sonny," said Keiko. She walked over and placed her hand on Sonny's shoulder. "I know anger is a very powerful source for your fire abilities, but you shouldn't rely on anger. Fire masters before you didn't use anger. Fire is strong and it's what burns in your heart. Anger comes and goes, but your heart will always remain strong. When manipulating fire, you must look deep inside yourself."

Sonny closed her eyes while Keiko walked back to her original spot.

Sonny took a deep breath before doing another fire punch. Like her first attempts, no fire appeared from her fist. She tried again, and still nothing.

"Master, I don't get this," yelled Sonny.

Keiko closed her eyes and tried to think of something to tell this frustrated girl.

Finally, Keiko said, "Sonny, you remember what I named you after?"

The stupid question made Sonny even more frustrated, but she still answered, "Of course."

"The sun has absolutely no emotion, yet its the most powerful source of fire. The energy inside the sun is very much like the energy inside you. Sonny, just do what the sun does," replied Keiko.

Sonny just looked at Keiko, "And what's that?"

"Just let your energy out. Forget that I told you to concentrate. Don't think about it and let it out," said Keiko.

Still irritated, Sonny closed her eyes again and tried to clear her thoughts. "Just let it out," she keep thinking.

Sonny tried a fire punch, and to her relief and joy, it finally worked. She was all excited, she did a whole series of fire punches.

To Keiko's approval and achievement on Sonny's part, the rest of the training was a huge success.

When the girls were preparing dinner, Keiko checked her reflection in the stream. Her hair was completely grey now and her skin looked even older. Judging by her appearence, Keiko only had tomorrow left. For the fight against Lord Oromashi, she planned to make the best of it.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Keiko woke up before the rest of the girls. She walked over to the stream, took a drink, and washed her face. Keiko remembered the tonfa blasters at her waist and took one out of her holster. Everytime she looked at them, she thought of Toshio and the day he gave her these weapons. Any other time, Keiko would have tears in her eyes, but none were there.<p>

She looked over at the girls. Keiko knew the horrible truth that would surround them. People would shut them out because they were different. Whether or not they would have chosen to defeat this dragon, they would most likely be imprisoned for suspision of being herself. Nobody would accept them.

Keiko's thoughts wondered back to Toshio. She knew deep in her heart that he would be different. Odin and the rest will be able to trust him just like she did. To take her mind off such things, Keiko focused on the day.

"Today is the most important day," Keiko said to herself.

From fighting experience and time, Keiko thought of three techniques. Powerful moves that would be essential to their success.

Keiko heard a noise and realized that Aki woke up. It brought a smile to Keiko's face, the day officially began.

* * *

><p>After they all finished their breakfast, the girls washed up in the stream. When Sonny was done, she noticed Keiko was standing firm with ther hands crossed.<p>

"Another day of training! I thought you said I learned well," exclaimed Sonny.

"Of course you learned well, but you didn't honestly think I was done," replied Keiko. Keiko turned her back on Sonny and began to walk away. Sonny reluctantly followed.

As she continued to walk, Keiko said, "Odin, Aki, and Rose. This lesson is for you as well."

Throughout the day, Keiko taught her techniques as planned. The first move was the girls creating a foot diameter sphere of their element and launching it as a projectile. The next tactic was similar except the projectile was a meter in diameter disk. The final move was a defense mechanism; and elemental shield. After the training was over, the girls began to prepare for dinner.

When they began to eat, Rose noticed that Keiko appeared sad.

"Master, what's wrong?"

Keiko looked up at Rose and smiled. "Nothing is wrong." She paused for a moment and her original expression returned to her face.

"Master, we can see that something is wrong. There's no point in lying to us," said Odin.

Keiko looked at Odin and ran her eyes over the rest of the girls. "I guess you're right," she replied. After a moment of thinking, Keiko finally said, "I don't exactly know how to say it, but I'm going to die very soon."

"What?" said Rose. Tears started to spill over her eye lids and onto her beautiful cheeks.

All the girls had an expression of sadness on their face.

"Before you set off on your journey to slay Lord Oromashi's dragon," said Keiko. Keiko paused and looked downward. She couldn't bare to see the looks in their eyes. With much difficulty, Keiko continued, "you must see a man named Toshio Kurogane. He's been my friend for years, and you'll be able to trust him. He'll clothe you and provide shelter for you. Toshio lives among the rice fields in the mountains."

By this time, all the girls were in tears, even Sonny. Keiko looked at them and then looked away.

"I only have one favor to ask of you," said Keiko.

Rose wipped the tears away from her eyes and said, "What's that, Master?"

Keiko waited a second before saying, "When you bury my body. I want my tonfa blasters to be buried with me."

After that was said, nobody talked the rest of the night. When Keiko finally went to sleep, the girls didn't turn in like they did everytime Keiko fell asleep. They watched Keiko, watching her exhale, and hoping she'd inhale. After possibly half an hour, Odin finally broke the silence.

"If we're going to keep up our energy, we'd better go to sleep."

With that, they reluctantly turned in.

* * *

><p>The next morning, the girls woke up to what they feared most. Keiko was lifeless. She was no longer breathing. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful.<p>

Rose said, "When should we bury her?" Her voice was cracking from her sobbing.

Odin looked away from Keiko's body. "We do it right now. It wouldn't be fair to push it off."

Rose turned away and walked a little distance from the others. With the movement of her hands, a sakura blossom tree grew from the ground.

"What are you doing?" asked Sonny, walking over.

"I wanted to make it special, so if we come back, we'll know where she is," replied Rose.

Next, Rose moved the earth down six feet to make a customary rectangular hole in front of the tree.

Odin picked up her master's body and walked over to the grave with Aki and Sonny.

When she reached it, Odin gently put Keiko's body down beside the grave, and jumped in. Sonny followed Odin's lead.

Rose and Aki picked up Keiko's body and carefully gave it to the two girls in the grave. Once they set the body down, Odin took the tonfa blasters out of Keiko's holster.

"Hey," said Sonny angryly. "Master asked to be buried with those."

Odin merely looked at Sonny. She then grabbed Keiko's hand and put one of the tonfa blasters in it. Odin did the same with the other hand. She stood up and said, "I just thought it would be better if she was holding them."

Rose and Aki pulled the other two out of the grave. They starred at Keiko's lifeless body in the hole.

"Shouldn't we say something?" asked Rose.

Aki took a step towards the grave and thought in silence for a moment.

Finally, she said, "This is a very sad day, but perhaps we should look at the bright side. Instead of our master living in pain, she's finally resting in peace. She was a great woman to us. Master could have done many things. She could have hated us for being created from her stolen energy. She could have even abandoned us, but she didn't do either of those things. Master cared about us and she taught us the ways of our elements. She gave us a purpose and tried to help in every way she was able. I will always be greatful to Master. I believe we all will."

Odin walked to Aki and put her hand on the water girl's shoulder. She said, "Master would have loved that speech."

After saying their last good-byes, Rose filled in the grave. To make a finishing touch, Rose grew a stem at the head of Keiko's grave. From the tip sprouted four more stems. At the end of these stems grew a rose bud. All four of them were different colors: red, blue, brown, and white.

"Why did you make that?" asked Sonny.

"I wanted it to be something unique," said Rose with a smile.

"Well, I love it!" exclaimed Aki. "A rose from each of us."

Sonny turned to Odin and asked, "What do we do now?"

Odin looked around. When she looked back at Sonny, she replied, "We'll rest today. When night comes, we'll set out to find this man named Toshio Kurogane."


	3. Toshio's Pain

**Toshio's Pain**

As Odin said, the girls set out at night. It took them a month to finally find Toshio. Once they reached the rice fields, they began knocking on everyone's door. Everybody slammed it in their face. The people either screamed about seeing Keiko or being appauled by the girls' nakedness.

It was dawn when they approached Toshio's home. Odin knocked on his door and recieved an immediate responce.

"You don't collect for another month. What do you want?" yelled a voice.

The door swung open and Toshio was standing there with an angry expression. When he noticed that the people standing at his door weren't soldiers, Toshio seemed surprised. When he realized that the girls looked extremely like Keiko, it appeared like Toshio had no expression at all.

"Are you Toshio Kurogane?" asked Odin.

"Yes. What do you want?" asked Toshio.

"Yay!" yelled Aki. "We finally found him!"

"What? Why are you looking for me?" asked Toshio.

"Sorry, but our master, Keiko, told us that we could trust you and you'd help us," said Rose shyly.

Toshio's expression turned angry again, and he yelled, "Well, she was wrong." He slammed the door and began yelling inside. "She doesn't see me or talk to me in five years, and now she sends naked women my way!"

The girls just stood at the front door dumbfounded. Sonny was the first to recover. She stepped forward and began banging on the door. "Hey! We've been looking for you for a month now. Master trusted you. You can't just turn us away."

"Watch me. Now go away," yelled back Toshio.

Odin turned away. Sonny noticed and said, "What are you doing Odin?"

"Sonny, we can't make him help us. Let's just go find some place where we can stay until I figure out what to do."

Odin began walking, Rose and Aki followed her. With a huff and a last look at Toshio's door, Sonny ran to catch up with her sisters.

The girls found a corner in the mountain that wasn't apart of a rice field, and Odin decided it would be a descent place to hide. Rose grew trees around them for cover. Sonny paced in the small space they had, and the rest of the girls sat down.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rose in a low voice.

"I don't know yet," replied Odin.

"This is just great," said Sonny, throwing her hands in the air. "The one person Master said we could trust, and he slammed the door in our face just like everybody else."

The others sat in silence. None of them knew what to say. They remained that way for a while until Rose finally got to her feet.

"Where are you going?" asked Aki, looking up at her.

"I'm going to stretch my legs," replied Rose. She jumped up and climbed over the rees she created.

As Rose walked away from the trees, she heard a thud on the ground behind her. She looked around and saw it was Odin.

"Soldiers could see you if they're around," said Odin. "You shouldn't be wandering out on your own."

"I'll be careful," replied Rose.

As she turned around, Odin said, "You're not just going for a walk now are you?"

Rose didn't move or reply. She just stood there with her back towards her sister.

"You're going to see him aren't you?" asked Odin.

"Yes."

"To change his mind?"

"No," replied Rose. She turned to face Odin and said, "I want to know why."

"Why he turned us away when Master trusted him?"

"No, that's not what bothers me," replied Rose, shutting her eyes tight. "I want to know why he hates Master. He had such hatred in his eyes when we mentioned Master's name. I can except the fact that we've known Master for such a short time, but she was so kind and caring to us. I just don't want to go on wondering what she did to make him hate her so much."

Odin stared at Rose for a few moments and finally turned away. "If you're not back by noon tomorrow, we're going to come looking for you."

"Thank you," replied Rose. She turned and headed for Toshio's house.

When she reached it, she decided not to knock on his door. Instead, she peered through the window of the house. She could clearly see Toshio working on a kimono. Even though the kimono was beautiful and elegant, Toshio took no pride in his work. He worked all day miserably and never noticed Rose watching him through the window.

When it was about midnight, Toshio finally stopped working, blew out his candle, and went to sleep. Rose waited possibly an hour to make sure that Toshio was asleep. She quitely snuck into the house and sat close to Toshio's futon. The entire night, Rose sat there watching Toshio sleep, waiting for morning to come.

When the light of the sun shined on Toshio's face, he opened his eyes. He yawned, sat up in his futon, and put his hand to his forehead. Only when he looked over at his working area he realized Rose sitting there watching him.

"What are you doing in my house?" he yelled.

Rose slowly looked down and said, "I wanted to talk to you."

"Forget it!"

Toshio rose out of his futon and walked to his weaving machine. Rose stood up and took a step towards him.

"Why do you hate Master?"

"I said forget it now get out!"

"No," replied Rose firmly. "I'm not leaving until you answer my question."

Toshio turned towards her with hatred in his eyes.

"Fine," he yelled. "You want to know why. It's because she left me."

"She left you?" asked Rose, confused.

Toshio turned away and closed his eyes.

"She left me five years ago. We were married when we were only five years old. Our parents were best friends, and they arranged it. In the beginning, I could have cared less about Keiko, but I accepted the fact that I had to spend the rest of my life with her."

"My parents died when I was ten, so I went to live with my uncle. About a year later, Keiko moved in to give us a hand around the place. During that time I came to love her because I finally understood what kind of person she really was. Before we moved into this house I was willing to do anything to make her happy."

"That only lasted two years. Everyday she was cheerful, and I wasn't so serious all the time."

Toshio paused, then continued on, "We were seventeen when Lord Oromashi assumed control. I spent less time with Keiko and more time making clothes to achieve my quota. A year later, I woke up one morning, and she was gone."

Toshio and Rose remained quite for a long time. Finally, Rose said, "Master told us she left to defeat Lord Oromashi."

Toshio quickly looked at her with even more hatred.

"She didn't leave to fight against the lord," yelled Toshio. "She left because she no longer enjoyed her life with me. Deep down, she never loved me."

A tear formed in Rose's eye. "That's not true."

"How would you know?" replied Toshio. "You weren't even there. You didn't see the look in her eyes when she looked at me."

Toshio looked away from Rose again.

"Toshio," said Rose. He merely huffed a reply.

Rose continued on, "Master told us she wanted to free the people because she believed slavery wasn't a descent life. I think I undersand now. Master left because she loved you."

Toshio simply looked at her, but the anger was still evident in his eyes.

"I watched you working yesterday. You made the most beautiful kimonos I've ever seen, and you didn't care about them. You never smiled once the whole time. That's what Master saw. She only wanted you to be happy again."

Toshio turned his back towards Rose and remained silent. It stayed like that until he said, "Where is Keiko?"

When Rose didn't answer, he turned and looked at her. With much difficulty, she said, " She's dead."

Toshio closed his eyes tightly and said, "How?"

"I'm not sure. She grew old very fast. Master was tired all the time, but she tried not to show it when she was training us," answered Rose.

"Why would she take the time to train you?" asked Toshio.

"Because we formed from her elemental energy."

Toshio looked sad and turned away. "I need some time to collect my thoughts."

Rose closed her eyes and smiled. "I understand."

With that said, she left and headed for her sisters.

* * *

><p>It was the next morning, and the girls didn't move on. When Rose came back the previous day, the others didn't question her. They were still sleeping when Toshio climbed the tree and found them.<p>

"Pst."

The girls yawned and stretched. It took them a moment to realize Toshio was on top of the trees staring down at them.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sonny.

"How did you find us? asked Aki, happily surprised.

"I started looking for you this morning. I live in this area and brand new trees were pretty obvious," replied Toshio.

"So you changed your mind then?" asked Sonny with an attitude.

"Do you want me to help you or not?" asked Toshio, angry.

"Yes, we want your help," answered Odin. She gave Sonny a look before she climbed the tree.

The girls followed Toshio back to his house. Once inside, Toshio quickly closed the door and checked the window. When he was sure nobody saw him and the girls, he went to the dresser.

"You better figure something out because if anyone comes knocking on my door, they can't see you here. Especially soldiers."

The girls remained quite while Toshio looked through the dresser. He finally pulled out four sets of black clothing.

"These were Keiko's. Since you look exactly like her, I'm confident they'll fit," said Toshio as he handed the clothes to the girls.

The girls put on the clothing without any questions. Toshio returned to his weaving machine, and Odin started thinking of how they were going to hide. By the time dinner was ready, Odin had a plan.

Rose would be able to make a door in the floor. She would then make a tunnel along with a ladder to climb down. That would lead to a square-like space where the girls could hide . Toshio could then cover the door with his futon. After dinner, Rose followed Odin's plan.

Once everything was set, the girls started discussing their plans for concerning Lord Oromashi's dragon.

"Where would we be able to get our hands on some weapons?" asked Sonny.

"But Master said weapons were useless against the dragon," said Aki.

"Master also claimed that it was a rumor she heard. Even if it is true, it wouldn't hurt to have weapons for along the way," claimed Odin.

"What I would love to have is a sword," said Sonny, holding her hands up as if she was gripping the handle of a mighty blade.

"I think thorn whips are interesting," said Rose with a smile.

"You like roses and now thorn whips. Master definitely gave you the right name," said Aki. She started laughing, and Rose just blushed.

"Well, I want to be an archer," said Odin as she made a hand gesture of releasing an arrow.

"What weapon would you like to use Aki?" asked Rose.

Aki looked down, and said, "I actually liked Master's tonfa blasters."

Even though Toshio was concentrating on his work, he managed to say, "Why didn't you keep them?"

Aki looked at him and said, "Master insisted on being buried with them."

Toshio stopped weaving for a moment and smiled. He quickly returned to what he was doing.

"I made those for her," he replied. "I gave them to her as a gift when we moved here."

The girls remained silent, but it was quickly broken by Aki.

"Wait, you can make me a pair of tonfa blasters?"

"No," answered Toshio.

"Aw, why not?" asked Aki, disappointed.

"Because my uncle designed them, and I followed his instructions. I don't remember how I made them because that was almost eight years ago," he said.

"Well, that will give us something to do," said Odin. "We'll find your uncle to make tonfa blasters, and from there we'll find these other weapons."

"That will be somewhat easy, but you need to be careful. Uncle runs a tea shop in the fire community. Seeing him first will be a smart move because he knows other people that are able to make weapons," said Toshio.

"Why would we need to be careful?" asked Aki.

"The fire community is the closest to Lord Oromashi's palace. Soldiers go to Uncle's shop regularly," replied Toshio.

"Then we'll just have to encounter your uncle when his tea shop is closed," said Odin.

After an hour, the girls decided to go to sleep. Toshio went to sleep at midnight like he always did.


	4. Journey to Sapporo

_Journey to Sapporo_

They had to use their hiding place a month later when the soldiers came to collect the clothing Toshio made.

"Why do you only make kimonos and sokutais?" asked Aki after the soldiers left.

"It's illegal for anyone to wear nice new clothing. They're force to stick with old worn out jinbei and hanten. I make sokutai because they're only worn by the lord. The kimonos are for the women living in his palace," answered Toshio.

"Women?" asked Sonny.

"Lord Oromashi is a womanizer. If a soldier spots a beauiful woman, she's given an invitation to live in the palace to entertain the lord. A smart woman would accept the offer," said Toshio. He went over to his machine and started working again.

"Why would that be a smart decision?" asked Rose.

"Word spread around Japan that a few women rejected the offer. One woman's house was burnt down. Another had to witness her father being eaten by the dragon," he said.

This made the girls sad, but it also let them realize just how important it was for them to succeed.

* * *

><p>A while later, the day finally came when the girls were going to set out to find Uncle Kagen. Before they left, Toshio gave the girls seven sets of their own clothing.<p>

Sonny received white uwagis and obi belts. Her zubons and uwabaki were green. Odin's uwagis and obi belts were brown, and her zubons and uwabaki were denim blue. The uwagis and obi belts Rose was given were red, and the zubons and uwabaki were black. Aki's uwagis and obi belts were blue, and her zubons and uwabakis were white.

"They're wonderful Toshio. When did you make them?" said Rose, excited.

"I worked an extra hour each day. The four of you looked alright in black, but these colors suit you better," replied Toshio. He then gave the girls carrying bags for their clothes.

The four girls walked out the door. They didn't get too far before Toshio called to them. When they turned back, Toshio was standing at his doorway.

"Don't be afraid to come back. Your company is always welcome here," he said.

Odin, Sonny, and Aki smiled and continued to walk away. Before following them, Rose waved good-bye.

* * *

><p>The girls traveled three days before they could clearly see the city of Oita.<p>

"Awesome, a city," said Aki, holding up her hand to block the sun. "Maybe we could get some food there."

"It wouldn't be a smart move," said Odin. "We don't know anything about the layout of the city, or if soldiers are around to keep everyone in line."

"There most likely will be soldiers there because Oita is the city closest to the bridge that connects this land with the other island," said Sonny.

"That bridge will probably be guarded too, since we'll be entering the wind territory," said Odin.

"Why would soldiers keep them seperated?" asked Rose.

"Power in numbers," replied Odin. "If people of the different elements communicated with each other, Lord Oromashi would be afraid the people would be coming up with a plan to overthrow him. Especially since he fears element manipulation in the first place."

"But the people fear his dragon," replied Aki, confused.

"It's never wise to rely on one factor to stay in control," stated Odin.

They started to walk towards the direction of the bridge in silence until Sonny said, "Which territory is after the wind communities?"

"Earth and fire is after that," replied Odin.

"I wonder what this Uncle Kagen is like," said Rose with a smile.

"Well, hopefully he won't slam the door in our face like _someone_ else," said Aki, jokingly.

They laughed as they continued on.

* * *

><p>As Odin predicted, two fire soldiers were patroling the enterance of the bridge. Since Odin couldn't come up with a better idea, they casually walked up to them.<p>

"Halt," yelled the one soldier. "Let me see your pass."

"A pass, what pass?" asked Aki.

"Everyone needs a pass to cross the bridge, Lord Oromashi's orders," stated the soldier.

The other soldier was standing behind the man and was staring at the girls dumbly. "Hey," he said, scratching at his temple. "Don't they look like public enemy number one?"

"Yeah," said the first soldier, rubbing his chin. He began laughing, "All except their hair. What happened? Lost the instructions to your dying kit?"

The other soldier began to laugh whole-heartedly with his partner. The girls simply looked at each other.

"Hey," said Sonny. "What's wrong with our hair?"

With laughter still in his voice, the first soldier said, "Are you kidding? Ever single person in Japan has black hair."

This never occured to the girls when they were knocking on peoples' doors. After a while, the soldiers finally stopped laughing.

"Okay," said the first soldier. "We had a good laugh. Now why don't you girls just go running along."

"We need to cross the bridge," said Odin firmly.

Both of the soldiers attitude turned serious. "So you're going to give us trouble, huh," said the first soldier.

Without a warning, both of the fire soldiers threw a fire punch at the girls. Rose quickly formed her earth shield to block both of the blasts. Aki jumped that she was balancing herself on the railing of the bridge.

"That wasn't very nice," she said.

The soldiers kept throwing fire punches at Aki, and she dodge them all. After the tenth fire punch was dodged, Sonny yelled to catch the soldiers' attention. While they were focused on Aki, the fire manipulators failed to notice Odin and Sonny forming a wind and fire sphere. The two threw the spheres at the soldiers. They crossed their arms in front of themselves for protection, but they were still knocked backwards.

Aki jumped down from the railing and observed the unconscious soldiers. "Men don't know how to treat a lady anymore."

"You're something else, Aki," said Rose.

They started walking on the bridge and after a few minutes, Sonny asked, "Do you think we'll run into this problem at the end?"

"Maybe. Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to reach it during the night. Then we'll have a chance to sneak by," replied Odin. After a moment, Odin added, "Yet that might not work because the soldiers will be looking out for people sneaking around the bridge."

"So what we're looking at is always be careful and you'll come up with a concrete plan when we get there," said Sonny.

"Basically," answered Odin.

"I like that plan. It's always the same," said Aki excitedly.

Odin smiled at her sister, and Sonny couldn't keep herself from laughing. Rose smiled, but her mind was still on the flower she left behind. The four different colored roses whose stems came together to form one, identical to the one she made for Keiko. Her sisters didn't notice and she was glad, because it was her apology.

* * *

><p>It was night, and the girls could see the end of the bridge due to the light of the soldiers' lanturn. The one soldier on patrol specialized in fire, and the other was a master of earth.<p>

The sisters stayed back so they wouldn't be seen or heard. After Odin explained her plan, Aki and Rose climbed over the railing of the bridge, and carefully manuvered themselves that they were hanging off the edge of the bridge by their hands. The two girls started climbing over towards the soldiers. When they were closer to the men, Aki gripped the wood that it made a creek.

"What was that?" asked the earth soldier.

The fire soldier made an ember appear above his palm. The soldiers ran over to the edge and saw Aki there.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

Quickly, Sonny made a trail of fire on the bridge from her to the soldiers. It burned their feet, which made them back away from Aki. Rose started pulling herself up and grabbed a balister, which allowed her to bring herself onto the bridge and climbed over the railing.

The soldiers turned and noticed Rose immediately. The fire soldier three a fire punch at her, and she created her earth shield to protect herself. The earth soldier quickly acted and wrapped Rose's ankles with thorn covered vines. She cried in pain but still managed to keep her earth shield. She blocked another fire punch.

Hearing Rose's cry, Aki grabbed a balister and pulled herself up enough to witness the scene. The girl of water made a layer of ice on the bridge. The two soldiers started sliding around. By this time, Odin and Sonny finally reached them. With the motion of her hands Odin pushed a gust of wind at the soldiers, which knocked them down.

The soldiers moved around to try and get up, but Sonny pinned the earth soldier down with her foot. She turned to the fire soldier on the ground and said, "You'll stay down it you know what's best." She was furious and the soldiers could see it in her eyes. She only took her gaze off of them for a second to see how Rose was.

Odin quickly went over to Aki to help her back onto the bridge. Rose used her abilities to release her ankles from the agonizing restraints.

As Odin and Aki started to walk away, Sonny gave the soldiers one last mean look before she followed them. Rose binded them down with vines so the soldiers couldn't make anymore attempts to stop them. As she turned away, Rose formed her four budded flower in her hand and tossed it over her shoulder at the men. Without looking back, she followed her sisters into the night.

* * *

><p>The next day, the girls found themselves in Matsuyama. They were sticking to the alleys to avoid people.<p>

"Tell me again why we're taking the risk of getting caught," said Sonny, looking around.

"Try to find a way to disguise our hair. A hat or something. One loot at us and people are going to be alarmed," answered Odin, also keeping a lookout.

The girls walked until they came across a young man in a wagon. It was in front of a building that stood in front of a vineyard. Odin hushed her sisters and remained in the shadows of the alley. An elderly man came out of the building and said to the man on the wagon, "Son, would you help me get this last barrel of grapes onto the wagon."

"Yes, father," replied the young man. He put the reins of the mulls that were hitched to the wagon down and hopped off the wagon. He went inside to do as his father asked.

"I wonder where they're taking that shipment to. Do you think it could be going to the fire community?" asked Rose.

"I don't know. If it is, the man probably has a pass to get by the other bridges, but we could be wasting time if they go the different direction," replied Odin.

"I say go for it," said Sonny. "We could benefit from this."

"Well, we can't get onto the wagon. That one more barrel will make it a full load," replied Odin.

"You can figure something out. Please Odin," said Aki. She held her hands together and looked at her sister with the most adorable eyes.

After a few minutes, the two men came out of the building carring the barrel. They put it onto the wagon and covered it with the tarp. The young man got back onto the wagon. With a farewell to his father, he flicked the reins and the mulls started to pull the wagon. The men failed to notice the additional passengers fastened tot he bottom of the wagon by many tree roots.

* * *

><p>The girls were under the wagon for two weeks. The only time they did anything was at night when the youn man was sleeping. The wagon went through multiple check points and the girls went unnoticed. From going through the checkpoints, the girls overheard that the shipment was being taken to Lord Oromashi himself. As Odin hoped, the young man stopped at Sapporo to rest before delivering the load of grapes.<p>

When the coast was clear, Rose released them from the support of her tree roots. Since it was night, very few people were walking around in the streets. The houses and the second floor of the shops were lit. After a while of searching, they finally found a shop with the sign that read, "Kurogane Tea Shop."

Aki went to run to the enterence, but Odin caught her by the arm. "We can't go in the front way. It's too much of a risk."

Following Odin, they went behind the tea shop to find the back door. Rose knocked on the door. After a moment, the girls heard someone coming down the stairs. The girls held their breath in anticipation.


	5. Uncle Kagen

_Uncle Kagen_

The door opened, and Uncle Kagen stood before them. He had white hair and a two inch goatee. He was clothed in a body length red uwagi.

"May I help you?" asked Uncle Kagen, drowsy.

"We're friends of Toshio. He said you could help us," said Odin.

Uncle Kagen leaned out and checked the area before inviting them in. Once inside, Uncle Kagen said, "I haven't seen my nephew in the longest time. How is he?"

"He's fine," replied Rose, shyly.

"So, what do you need? A place to stay?" asked Uncle Kagen.

"Well, not exactly," replied Odin. "We're planning to slay the lord's dragon."

"That's quite something," said Uncle Kagen. "Well ladies, it's late. Why don't we discuss this matter tomorrow?"

Kagen led the girls around his shop. When they came in the back door, the girls were in the kitchen. To the right was a set of stairs, but the man took them to the left. Uncle Kagen lifted up a wooden door, which revealed another set of stairs descending to the basement.

"It's not the greatest quarters, but this way you won't have to worry about walking around while my shop is open," said Uncle Kagen.

"Thank you, Mr. Kurogane," said Rose.

"No please, call me Uncle. Keiko always did," said Uncle Kagen with a smile.

The girls walked down the stairs and Uncle Kagen quietly closed the door. They waited until he went upstairs before saying anything.

"Is it just me or was that weird?" asked Aki.

"Sh, keep your voice down," replied Odin, putting her pack on the floor.

"Well, it was weird. We didn't mention Keiko, and it's like he knows," said Aki.

"That did seem strange," said Sonny.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow. Now let's get some sleep," said Odin.

They did as their sister advised.

* * *

><p>When the girls woke up the following morning, people were already occupping the tea shop above. Aki became bored quickly, so she went back to sleep. The others just remained silent. To pass the time, Odin listened to the talk upstairs. Something she heard mentioned a lot by the soldiers was a group called the Element Warriors. She couldn't exactly hear everything they were saying, but it sounded like Lord Oromashi put an award out for them. When they were hungry and didn't hear anyone above, Rose made some fruit, and Aki created water for them to drink.<p>

When closing time finally arrived, Uncle Kagen pulled up the basement door to see how his guests were coming along. He invited them up to drink some tea. After the tea was poured and everyone was seated, Odin asked, "Uncle, what were the soldiers saying about the Element Warriors?"

"Just that they beat up the soldiers guarding the bridge between the water and wind territories. They left behind a unique rose each time," replied Uncle Kagen.

Sonny looked at Rose. Feeling the intensity of her sister's eyes, Rose felt embarrassed and drank her tea.

Uncle Kagen continued on, "The soldiers believe this rose is the group's signature. The soldiers that were defeated claimed the group was made up of _four women_."

Odin could sense that Uncle Kagen suspected them, so she decided not to beat around the bush. "Okay that was us, but how did you know we were familiar with Keiko? We only told you that Toshio informed us you could help us," said Odin.

"Well, that wasn't too difficult," said Uncle Kagen calmly. "For starters, you all look almost exactly like her. Despite how smart Lee Wong was, he wasn't smart in anticipating Lord Oromashi's actions."

At the very mention of the name, Sonny became furious.

"What happened to Lee Wong, Uncle?" asked Aki.

"He went before the lord to announce that he eliminated public enemy number one and how he did it. I assume that he believed since he used his inventions to benefit Lord Oromashi, the lord would have spared him from being a wanted man. Instead, the lord ordered him to be fed to his dragon," said Uncle Kagen. With a second of silence, he shrugged his shoulders. "I just put two and two together."

The girls remained quite. When Uncle Kagen saw the depressing looks on their faces, he said with a happy attitude, "Now why don't we discuss the real reason you're here."

It took the girls' minds off Keiko's death and onto the matters at hand.

"Ah, yes," replied Odin. "We were hoping to get our hands on some weapons. Toshio told us that you could make a set of tonfa blasters, and you might know other people who could make weapons."

"Oh," said Uncle Kagen. He laughed and took a sip of tea. "It's been a long time since I made a pair of tonfa blasters. It will probably take me a month to make them. Now, what are these other weapons you had in mind?"

"A sword, bow, and thorn whip," answered Sonny.

"Well, it seems like you'll be going in the direction you came from. The only other person in the fire community is a sword master. He's an old friend of mine. A woman who lives in the earth colony can make the whip, and a man in the wind territory can construct a bow. You might have luck with my friend, but I don't know about the other two. I haven't heard anything from them since Lord Oromashi assumed power," said Uncle Kagen.

"Well, there's no harm in trying," said Aki with a smile. The others smiled at Aki's comment and continued to drink their tea.

After a few seconds, Rose finally said, "Uncle, why did people use these weapons before Lord Oromashi took over?"

"The same reason we studied and manipulated the elements. The art is greatly respected, and most people gained respect and honor from training in the way of the art," answered Uncle Kagen after a sip of tea.

After an hour of drinking tea, Uncle Kagen made five bowls of rice for them. To add to it, Rose made some dragonfruit. The whole night, the girls laughed at Uncle Kagen's jokes and didn't discuss anymore serious matters.

* * *

><p>As he promised, Uncle Kagen found the time to make Aki's tonfa blasters within the estimated time. They were almost identical to Keiko's except that these had a blue water character engraved on them.<p>

Before they left Uncle Kagen, he informed the girls of where the other people were. The girls didn't exactly want to leave because they enjoyed Uncle Kagen's company so much. They enjoyed Toshio's company too, but they wondered why he was so different from his uncle.


	6. Sonny's Determination

_Sonny's Determination_

Swordmaster Yukito's home wasn't too far from Sapporo because it only took the Element Warriors one day to find it. A ten foot wall surrounded his home. The girls looked at it enviously.

Yukito Omara was greatly respected in Japan. He acquired his wealth by forging swords for the swordsmen that became famous. Even though Yukito could greatly influence the people, Lord Oromashi dared not harm him. His influence was what kept him safe. Like so many other things the lord contemplated, he acknowledged the great possibility that the people would fall into chaos if anything happened to Swordmaster Yukito.

The girls reached the front door in the wall. Sonny paused for a moment to gaze at the wall. She was nervous. The Fire Warrior came a long way to get the weapon her heart desired. Sonny was so close to getting what she wanted, it seemed like a dream.

"Well are you going to knock. The sword won't magically appear by just staring at his door," said Odin.

"Ha, ha, ha. You're so hilarious, I forgot how to laugh," replied Sonny.

Aki laughed at her sister's sarcasm while Sonny walked up to the door and knocked three times. After a minute, a man answered the door. He was chubby and had an annoyed expression on his face. "Yes?"

"I came to see if the master of the house could forge me a sword," said Sonny.

"Miss, Master Omara clearly stated five years ago that he doesn't forge swords anymore. You wasted your time," replied the man emotionlessly. He closed the door without even apologizing for the girls' inconvience.

Sonny quickly yelled, "But Kagen Kurogane said he might help us." When she didn't hear a reply, it angered her. Her dream of wielding a sword was crushed in front of her very eyes by a cold-hearted servant.

Rose walked up to Sonny and put her hand on her sister's shoulder. With one look at the Earth Warrior, Sonny's anger vanished. She started walking towards the others and said, "We might as well start making our way to the earth territory."

Before they had a chance to depart, the door opened and the servant was standing there. "Master Omara will see you."

Sonny was confussed but none the less greatful. The Element Warriors walked in and followed the servant to the house. Rose was distracted by the swordmaster's garden. There were all kinds of flowers and extravagent fountains. The servant opened the front door of the house, and Sonny turned towards her sisters.

"You go ahead," replied Odin. "We'll wait for you out here."

Sonny smiled and stepped inside. The inside of the house was very elegant. There were unique portraits of old Japanese legends hanging up on the walls. The pottery sitting around for decoration were beautifully colored.

The servant lead Sonny straight to Yukito Omara. When she entered the room, he was seated with his back towards her. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was rather plain. It had nothing hanging from its walls or even a vase in sight. The servant motioned for Sonny to sit down, so she did.

"I'm sorry for the way my servant behaved. Now, I understand Kagen Kurogane sent you here," said Swordmaster Yukito. He remained in his position. Sonny could see his arm moving, so she figured he was painting characters.

"Yes. He told me you're the best at forging a sword," answered Sonny.

"A lot of people say that. I take it that you want a sword," replied Yukito.

"Yes but your servant claims you no longer practice your profession," said Sonny.

"That isn't entirely ture," stated Swordmaster Yukito. "When Lord Oromashi came into power, I claimed at I wouldn't forge anymore blades to stay on the lord's good side. Since then, I have kept my word."

Swordmaster Yukito finally stood up to face Sonny. He was tall and lean. He said, "But that isn't why I won't make you a sword."

Sonny was shocked. The conversation took a total u-turn on her. "I don't understand," was the only thing she could manage to say.

"I've seen the wanted posters; Element Warriors. You just want to stir up trouble. I'd prefer that my work wouldn't be used for that purpose," said Swordmaster Yukito.

"I don't want to cause trouble," said Sonny, defending herself. "I want to defeat Lord Oromashi. That's the only purpose I have."

"Defeating the soldiers and getting them devoured by the dragon isn't a good way of showing it. Not to mention leaving behind a calling card to rub your victory in their face," replied Swordmaster Yukito.

Sonny was taken aback by this. She didn't realize the soldiers from the bridge met their fate at the mouth of the dragon. She quickly recovered to defend Rose's honor. "My sister didn't leave behind that rose to rub it in their face. She doesn't exactly like hurting people, so she left it as an apology. Besides if our mission wasn't to bring down Lord Oromashi, why would Kagen Kurogane give me your reference?"

Swordmaster Yukito truely had to ponder over that matter. He had known the man for a very long time and had great respect for him. "Never the less, I won't forge a sword. That's my finally answer. My servant will escort you out," said Swordmaster Yukito.

The swordmaster returned to his original position and started painting characters again. Sonny was so furious that she got up and left without the servant. When she stepped outside, her sisters could immediately see that something was wrong.

"What is it, Sonny?" asked Rose.

"He said no. When he first started talking, he sounded like he was willing to do it. Then he had the nerve to call us trouble makers," ranted Sonny.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Odin.

"I'm going to stay. I won't leave until he makes me that sword. You can go on without me if you want," answered Sonny.

"We're not leaving without you, Sonny. If you're staying here then we are too," said Rose.

Sonny kept her word. The Element Warriors waited outside Swordmaster Yukito's wall. Whenever the man looked outside his window, Yukito could see the three girls sitting around in a circle, and Sonny was standing with her arms crossed and staring at his house.

* * *

><p>It was dawn and the door opened. The servant called out to Sonny, "Master Omara wants to see you."<p>

Sonny looked at her sisters and stood up. The others stayed behind while Sonny accepted the rude invitation. She was lead back to the same room. The only difference this time was that Swordmaster Yukito was facing Sonny.

"Leave us, Koaru," said Swordmaster Yukito.

"Yes, Master," said the servant. He bowed towards the man and did what he was told.

Swordmaster Yukito and Sonny stared at each other for the longest time before he broke the silence. "I must confess to you. When we first spoke, I lied to you. I made only one sword in the past five years," said Yukito. He stopped for a moment to go and look out the only window to continue the conversation. "A man came to me promising he same thing. He claimed he wanted to kill Lord Oromashi to give his son a better life. He was my best pupil. I didn't know his true intentions at the time. He killed many innocent people. Many soldiers had to stop him. He was killed after he lost his sword during the fight. The soldiers tried looking for it, but the blade was never found. Since they had no proof that I made the sword, I was never questioned."

After a long time past, Swordmaster Yukito finally looked at Sonny. "How can I be certain you'll keep your word?"

Sonny puzzeled this over for a moment, and she said, "My master originally set out to slay this dragon to free the Japanese. When that task was no longer possible for her, she gave my sisters and me the choice to complete her quest. She cared about us, and I'll never leave her down. I don't want to hurt the people I'm trying to help."

Swordmaster Yukito closed his eyes and smiled. Stepping away from the window, he walked to the Japanese styled sliding doors at the back of the room. When he opened them and turned towards Sonny, he was holding a great sword in its sheath. It was so beautiful, Sonny gasped. Swordmaster Yukito knelt down, and Sonny did the same. The man took the sword out of its sheath and looked at it. Sonny could see there was an engraved white fire character on the blade towards the handle.

"I only made one other sword just like this. Its strength has no limits. With my training and this sword, you'll become a legend. I'm immensely proud that the greatest piece of work I made will finally be used to bring peace."

Swordmaster Yukito put the sword back in its sheath and handed it to Sonny. She took the sword and looked at it. The sword had a strong grip. The sheath added to its beauty. It was white with two steel strips going across its width. Deep down, Sonny knew that this sword's twin was the one that Yukito's pupil used to kill those people.

The following week, Swordmaster Yukito was completely devoted to teaching Sonny the way of the sword. When they parted ways, not only did Sonny have great respect for her new master, but he had even greater respect for her.

Sonny met her sisters outside the wall. It was the first time any of them saw her weapon. Sonny had it strapped on her back, and Aki ran behind the Fire Warrior to see it.

"Wow," said Aki. She placed one of her hands over her eyes. "I'm being blinded by its awesomeness!"

The girls laughed as they collected their things.

"Well Sonny, I have to admit it. Being stubborn finally paid off for you," said Aki.

Sonny stuck her tongue out at Aki, and the Water Warrior just laughed. Once everyone was set, they left to find Kimeko Chibi in the earth territory.


	7. The Missing Warrior

_The Missing Warrior_

With two days worth of traveling, the Element Warriors finally reached the bridge connecting the fire island to the earth island.

"Hault," yelled the water soldier. His wind manipulating partner stood beside him. "We have a warrant for your arrest."

"Oh no, a warrant. I guess you better cuff us," replied Aki with a laugh. She stuck out her wrists to add more emphasis to her joke.

The soldiers just looked at each other questionably. Sonny calmly walked up to them and said, "Do you _really_ think you can bring us in?"

The water soldier backed away from Sonny. He said, "I'll show you!" With the motion of his hands, a tower of water rose out of the river.

Aki laughed. "Oh, I'm so scared. I'm shaking in my boots."

This made the soldier even more angry. He made the top of the water tower rush towards the girls. When this happened, Odin sent out a gust of wind that knocked the soldiers down. The soldier lost control of the water, and it fell right on top of them.

"Wow, you really _showed_ us," said Aki as she laughed. When the soldiers got back on their feet, she said, "Now see what I can do."

With the motion of her hands, she made the water remaining on the ground rise into the air. Quickly, the water gathered together to form a water dragon. The soldiers stepped back in fear. The wind soldier repeated Odin's move and pushed a gust of wind at Aki. It backfired because Odin jumped in the way and formed her wind shield.

Aki yelled, "Gotcha."

The soldiers were completely unaware that while Aki was having fun with her water dragon, she was controlling a bunch of ice spears floating in the air behind them. She kept her one hand raised to control the dragon, and the Water Warrior took her left hand and brought it down to her opposite side. The ice spears flew down at the soldiers and sliced through their clothing to immoblize them.

The girls walked by them and traveled along the bridge. Before doing so, Rose made sure to leave behind her four-rosed flower. The water soldier yelled back to the girls, "We'll get you Element Warriors. You just wait and see."

"Really? You'd think they would come up with something more creative then just Element Warriors. Whoever came up with this story didn't have much of an imagination," said Aki.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sonny.

"Oh, you know me. I'm just joking around," said Aki.

They all laughed as they continued on.

It was around the afternoon when they reached the end of the bridge, and the Element Warriors had very little trouble dealing with the soldiers on guard. They continued their journey until later on in the evening when Odin decided to set up for the night.

"You know, I think I saw a fruit tree a little while back. I'm going to check it out," said Rose. With a smile, Rose left for the tree. She didn't return after half an hour later, and Sonny started to worry.

"Where could she be? I highly doubt that fruit tree was that far away," said Sonny.

"Oh no, we won't have fruit for dinner," said Aki.

Her sisters looked at her with serious expressions. She cleared her throat, "I mean, oh no. Rose is missing!"

Sonny walked over and grabbed her bag.

"Where are you going?" asked Odin.

"I'm going to look for her. You two just stay here so we can find you," said Sonny.

Odin wasn't crazy about the idea of another sister walking off alone, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stop Sonny anyway.

After walking for about ten minutes, Sonny spotted a fruit tree. When she got closer to it, Sonny immediately saw an ice spear in the side of the tree trunk. The Fire Warrior got a closer look at it, there was a red cloth lying on the ground. She picked it up and could tell it was from the sleeve of Rose's uwagi. Sonny looked around and saw fresh soil on the ground nearby. She walked over and the soil clearly said, "I told you we'd get you."

Sonny gripped the cloth in her hand. She looked around and didn't see any footprints.

"Great," she thought. "How am I going to find her?"

Sonny took a step and heard a familiar voice. "See the heat, Sonny."

She looked around and didn't see anyone. Sonny could have sworn she heard Keiko.

"See the heat? What could that possible mean?" said Sonny. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "See the heat."

When she opened her eyes, Sonny's sight was completely different. Her pupils and irises were glowing red. She could see glowing red footprints on the ground.

"Hold on, Rose. I'm coming."

She ran as she followed the footprints. It was night before Sonny finally found them. The two soldiers were eating their dinner while they had Rose hanging on a spit over their fire.

Sonny couldn't see right because of the heat the fire was giving off, so she closed her eyes to change them back to normal. The Fire Warrior got furious at the sight of her sister hanging over a fire. Using her abilities, Sonny made the flames die down.

"Hey," said the water soldier. "Check on the fire. I don't want it to go out."

When the wind soldier approached the fire, it flamed up. The soldier backed away in surprise.

"What are you doing? Stop messing around," yelled the water soldier.

"I didn't do anything," said the other soldier.

The fire went out, and the water soldier yelled, "I told you to keep that burning. You want that reward, don't you?"

The wind soldier quickly ran over to the fireplace. He blew on the hot embers and the fire started again. When Rose looked up, she saw Sonny standing behind the water soldier. Sonny kicked him in the back, and he fell forward. The wind soldier sent out a gust of wind at her. She dodged it and drew out her sword. With a swing of her blade, a slash of fire flew towards the wind soldier. He tried to dodge it, but the fire caught his arm. While he was patting his arm to put out the flames, the water soldier ran towards Sonny. She posed herself to strike him with her sword.

"Sonny, don't," yelled Rose.

Sonny widened her eyes in shock. A second later, she was hit by a blast of water. She flew back, hit a tree, and fell on the ground. She was so upset with herself.

The water soldier stood over her. "Well, they're just falling one by one. I can't wait for the others to come to the rescue, especially that water girl."

Sonny looked at Rose with sadness reflecting in her eyes, and Rose returned the look. The water soldier turned away and said to his partner, "Get some rope to tie this one up."

The wind soldier walked out of the fire light to get the rope. Rose mouthed to her sister, "Get up."

Any other time Sonny would have, but she was too discusted with herself.

"Sonny, please," yelled Rose.

The water soldier laughed at her. "You silly girl, placing all your hopes into your weak friend."

Sonny got up and grabbed her sword. She put it back in its sheath and unbuckled the strap. The water soldier heard this and quickly turned around. Sonny punched him in the face, and he was knocked to the ground.

"I'm not her friend. I'm her sister. Get it right," said Sonny.

The water soldier got to his feet and threw a water blast at Sonny. She twisted her torso and leaned back to avoid it. Sonny rammed her sheath into the soldier's abdomin. He leaned over and grabbed his belly in pain. When he did, Sonny swung her sword upwards and smacked him in the face. He flew back and hit the ground. The Fire Warrior checked him, and the soldier was unconscious.

Sonny heard a twig snap and realized the wind soldier was coming back. She signaled to Rose to be quiet, and the Fire Warrior hid behind a tree. When the soldier walked into the light, he saw his partner and went to his aid. Sonny buckled on her sword. The wind soldier heard the noise and stood up. He dropped the rope and said, "Where are you?"

Sonny pulled out her sword. Hearing it, he went in the direction. The soldier stopped at the treeline to look around. Sonny carefully placed her sword at the man's throat. She said, "Don't move."

The wind soldier froze.

"Good. Now slowly turn around and walk towards your partner. If you try anything funny, you'll be sorry," said Sonny.

The man did what she told him, and Sonny followed him with her sword. Keeping the sword ready, she carefully picked up the rope. The Fire Warrior tied his hands together and did the same with the water soldier's hands. Sonny walked over to Rose. She lifted the spit at one side and brought it away from the fire. She untied her sister, and Rose got to her feet. When they went to leave, Rose stopped at the soldiers. She puzzled over the matter for a moment and decided against leaving her rose.

* * *

><p>For a long time, the two sisters walked in silence.<p>

"I'm sorry."

Sonny looked at her sister, "What for?"

"For distracting you. I just didn't want to see you kill him," said Rose.

Sonny stopped, and Rose stopped walking a little ahead of her. When Rose looked back at Sonny, the Fire Warrior had the same look of disgust that she had at the campsite.

"Sonny, you didn't do anything wrong," said Rose.

"Yeah, but if you wouldn't have said something, I would have," said Sonny. She looked away from Rose and said, "What good am I if I don't keep my word?"

"Sonny, everyone makes mistakes. You just need to control you anger a little bit more. Don't be upset with yourself about it," replied Rose.

Sonny looked at her and away again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

They started walking again when Sonny said, "So, why didn't you leave your rose behind?"

"Well, I just figured that all the times before we fought soldiers because they were performing their duty to Lord Oromashi. I don't think that water soldier tied me up over a fire for the lord," said Rose. "Besides, I wasn't exactly sorry that time."

Sonny laughed, and Rose was glad that her sister was no longer upset about her actions. By the time morning arrived, they found Aki and Odin.

"You two had all the fun without me. No fair," said Aki, pouting.

Sonny and Rose looked at each other and smiled. Aki laughed at herself, and the girls got ready to move on.


	8. Kimeko Chibi

_Kimeko Chibi_

With two more days of traveling, the Element Warriors finally reached Sendai. As they walked around, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them.

"Do you think they recognize us?" asked Aki.

"Hm? They're staring at us. Yep, that's a pretty good sign that they know who we are," replied Sonny.

"Okay, just checking," said Aki happily.

Odin finally walked up to a salesman and said, "Would you happen to know where Kimeko Chibi is?"

"Sorry, she died four years ago. If you want to know more, you can always speak to her brother. She left her house to him in her will," replied the salesman.

The salesman gave her directions, and Odin thanked him for his help. She walked back to her sisters disappointed.

"Bad news?" asked Sonny.

Odin nodded. "Yeah. She's dead, but the salesman said we could talk to her brother if we want."

"I don't know, Odin. I don't think it's respectful to bang on a man's door because we want to know about his departed sister," said Sonny.

"Sonny's right. We should just leave him be," said Rose.

Aki looked at her sisters and especially at Rose. "Are you kidding?" said Aki. "He might know how this woman worked or could know other people that make thorn whips. We traveled all this way to just throw in the towel." Aki crossed her arms and turned her back on the rest. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to see this man." She started walking away.

"Hey, Miss Spunky. The house is that way," said Odin. Aki turned around and saw Odin was pointing in the opposite direction. "Oh, right," said Aki. She cleared her throat, kept her arms crossed, and held her head high. She started walking again. When she passed her sisters, they followed her. Rose laughed at her sister's behavior, and Sonny just rolled her eyes.

Shortly, the girls were standing on the brother's door step. Odin looked at Rose and knocked on the door. Within minutes, the door opened and the brother was standing there. "Yes?"

"I understand that this maybe difficult for you, but we wanted to discuss your sister," replied Odin. The brother stepped aside and said, "Please come in." The girls accepted the invitation and stepped inside. Even though uwabakis were shoes that could be worn indoors, they took them off just the same.

"My name is Sanzo," said the brother as he lead the girls to his dining room. "Please be seated. I'll serve you some tea and rice." He bowed to them and left.

"Is it just me, or does that guy have a feminine posture?" asked Aki.

"Aki! Don't make fun of our host," said Rose.

"I'm just saying that's all. He bowed funny for a man. It was more like a curtsy then a bow," said Aki.

"Either way, Aki. Really," said Sonny. "Master should have taught you manners too."

"Well, if you remember, Sonny. Master was lucky enough to teach us our elements," replied Aki.

Sonny shot up, and Aki followed her lead. Seeing this, Odin got up and stood in between them. She said, "Now calm down you two. We're not getting anywhere by fighting each other. You both said things you shouldn't have. Compose yourselves before Sanzo returns."

Sonny huffed and said, "Sorry, Aki. I overreacted."

"I'm sorry too," said Aki. "I was completely out of line to say that about Master."

The three girls sat back down and waited for Sanzo to return. He came back with the promised goods. He set them down on the table and took their tea and rice bowls.

"Why are you asking about my sister?" asked Sanzo.

"I wanted to have a thorn whip. A close friend told us about your sister," said Rose.

"Would this close friend of yours be Kagen Kurogane or Yukito Omara?" asked Sanzo.

The girls were stunned, but Rose still answered him. "Kagen Kurogane. How did you know?"

"Um," said Sanzo. He thought it over a moment and replied, "Lucky guess I suppose. My sister admired their work." He pointed at Aki's tonfa blasters and Sonny's sword.

"Ha, ha, ha. Of course, silly me," said Aki.

Sanzo nervously took a sip of his tea.

"Kimeko never showed you how she made her thorn whips, did she?" asked Odin.

"No," replied Sanzo.

"Would you happen to know any other people that can make a thorn whip?" asked Rose.

"Sorry. The only person I ever knew that made those was my sister," replied Sanzo.

The girls finished their rice and tea. They stood up to leave, and Rose said, "Thank you. We're very greatful for your hospitality." They all bowed to each other, and the Element Warriors found their way out. Once outside, Rose said, "I guess I won't have a thorn whip."

"Nonsense," said Aki. "If Sonny and I can have the weapons we desire, so will you."

"You'll never give up will you?" asked Sonny.

"Never," said Aki. She threw her hand into the air. "We're the Element Warriors. A stupid name but still. We never give up. To me, giving up is a completely different language."

"If Element Warriors is such a stupid name for the group, why don't you come up with something better?" asked Sonny with a sarcastic attitude.

"Hm," said Aki. She pondered over the chanllenge while her sisters watched her think. The Water Warrior finally said," What about Element Kunoichis?" Odin said, "That's good, but there's just one problem with that."

"What's that?" asked Aki. Odin happily answered her, "We're not ninjas." Sonny laughed, and Aki wrinkled her nose.

"Alright. Give me a kunai. I'll jump off walls and all kinds of stuff," said Aki.

"You'll make a fool out of yourself," replied Sonny.

"Will not," argued Aki.

"Okay then. Jump off the walls. I want to laugh at your stupidity," said Sonny, smiling.

Before Aki could say anything, Odin interrupted, "Come on. I doubt that Sanzo like the idea of women arguing on his doorstep."

The girls started walking down the street. They spent the rest of the day looking for supplies and talking amongst themselves. When night arrived, everyone started panicing. "What's going on?" asked Rose.

"I don't know," replied Odin. She ran over to a salesman before he completely closed his shop. When the Wind Warrior came back, she said, "We have to hide. Now!" She grabbed Rose's hand and started running with her. The other two were right behind them. They ran into an alley, and Odin finally let go of Rose's hand. She was looking through barrels to see if they were empty. None of them were.

"Odin, you mind letting us in on the crisis?" asked Sonny.

"Soldiers are here. They're searching every earth territory village for us," said Odin. They heard footprints, and Odin shoved Aki behind her while Sonny did the same with Rose. A fire soldier ran by and came back. He yelled for the other soldiers and five more fire soldiers came to his side. The Element Warriors started backing up.

"On three, men," said the soldier that found them. He counted, and when he got to three, the soldiers three a fire punch at the girls. Before they were hit, Rose raised the earth beneath the girls. When they were level with the building behind them, they jumped onto the roof. When Rose saw the fire soldiers were trying to climb her earth pillar, she set it back down.

"Get her," yelled one of the soldiers. They started throwing fire punches at Rose. She fell back and started sliding off the roof when Sonny caught her arm. The Fire Warrior helped pull her sister up. When they were situated, they started running across the roof top.

"Odin, what do we do?" yelled Rose. She looked down and saw the fire soldiers following them on the ground. When they got the chance, the soldiers threw a fire punch. One of the fire punches hit the edge of the roof before flying away. Aki made a small water ball and threw it at the embers on the roof to put it out. "We have to get out of here before those soldiers bring the village down," yelled Odin. After a while of running they were no longer feeling the heat of the fire punches.

"Wait," cried Rose. The girls stopped and looked at Rose.

"What are you talking about? We should be running," said Sonny.

"Why aren't the soldiers throwing fire punches anymore?" asked Rose. Odin slid to the edge of the roof and looked around. "They're not here. We must have lost them."

"Sh," said Sonny. She was looking in the direction they came frm. "Do you hear that?"

The girls listened and could hear voices. Unlike here sisters, Odin could clearly hear what they were saying from where she was.

"I won't let you destroy my village," said a woman.

"Then let us pass so we can capture those vigilantes," said a fire soldier.

"Someone is making a stand against the soldiers," said Odin.

"How do you know that?" asked Aki.

"I don't know," said Odin. "I could just hear what they're saying."

Sonny mumbled, "Hear the wind."

"What?" asked Odin.

"Never mind. This person is going to need help. Let's go," replied Sonny.

The girls ran back until they found the solders and the citizen. To Odin's surprise, the person was Sanzo and not a woman. He was much different no because he was wearing green kimono.

"I knew there was something funny about Sanzo. He's a crossdresser," said Aki. Odin signaled for her to be quiet.

"I won't let you bring any further damage to my village, and those vigilantes are not an excuse," said Sanzo.

He took out a thorn whip and snapped it onto the ground. A line of earth formed from the tip of the whip and grew large as it went. It collided with two fire soldiers. A soldier threw a fire punch at Sanzo, but he dodged it. Sanzo recovered from his dodge and lashed the thorn whip around the fire soldiers ankles. With a powerful pull on the whip, the soldier lost his balance and fell backwards. A soldier ran and threw a fire punch at Sanzo's side. Sanzo quickly noticed and lashed out his whip. The whip and the ball of flames met each other, and the fire punch blast was destroyed. While doing so, the end of the thron whip caught the soldier's face.

"I think it's about time we step in," said Sonny, pulling out her sword.

"I agree, Sonny," said Odin.

The soldier whose face was hit by the whip started running towards Sanzo. To his surprise, his legs were hit by two light blue spheres. On impact, the spheres blew up into ice and froze the soldier's legs in place. Aki looked at the tonfa blasters in her hands and kissed them.

One of the remaining soldiers saw them and pointed, "Element Warriors!"

The girls slid off the roof and landed on the ground. "Don't you know that it's rude to point," said Aki with a laugh.

The soldier responded with a fire punch. It was useless because Sonny swung her sword to destroy the blast. Rose made the earth rise up from the ground and imprison the fire soldier's hands.

"You're amateurs," yelled the final fire soldier. He was extremely muscular, so it was clear he was the strongest of the gang. He put one foot forward and thrusted his hands in front of him. A line of towering fire formed in front of him, and thraveled to Odin. She quickly formed her wind shield to protect herself. The Wind Warrior wasn't strong enought to force the fire back. In fact, Odin was being shoved back.

Sonny looked at Odin, Sanzo, and her other sisters. The heat from the fire was affecting everyone. Everyone except her. In a blink of an eye, Sonny knew what she had to do. She channeled her fire energy into ther sword. It started glowing red, but it was nothing compared to how brightly the white fire character glowed on the blade. Before Rose or Aki could stope her, Sonny ran into the line of fire. She ran until she reached the soldier and ran her sword above his right knee cap. The soldier immediately stopped his attack and grabbed at his wound.

"Do you yield?" asked Sonny.

"Never," the soldier yelled back.

Sonny twisted her sword, and the soldier cried out in pain. "I yield, I yield," cried the soldier.

The Fire Warrior pulled out her sword, and the others ran up behind her. Sonny put down her sowrd and ripped off a sleeve of the soldier's uwagi. She wrapped it around his wound and tied it tight. She used the cloth that hung from the bandage to wipe off the blood on ther blade.

"Aki and Rose, release those two soldiers," said Odin. The two did as Odin asked. Whey they were done, the one soldier went to help support the wounded soldier while other went to gather his other comrades. Without another word, the soldiers left. The girls turned their attention to Sanzo.

"Does crossdressing get you in the mood to fight or something, Sanzo?" asked Aki. Sanzo laughed, and the Element Warriors were shocked that the laugh sounded feminine. "No, and my name isn't Sanzo either. I'm Kimeko Chibi," said Kimeko.

"That explains why I thought I heard a woman's voice on the roof," said Odin, relieved that she didn't have terrible hearing.

"Why were you disguising yourself, Kimeko?" asked Rose.

"Four years ago, and soldier, who didn't recognize me, gave me an invitation to live in Lord Oromashi's palace. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life parading around in front of the lord, and I heard the stries of what happened to other women. I decided to make a will, claim I was dead, and pretend I was my _brother _to prevent that from happening," said Kimeko.

"Why weren't we ever extended an invitation? Didn't those first four soldiers think we were pretty?" asked Aki, disappointed. Even thought her sisters thought Aki's question was odd, considering the aftermath of an invitation, they ddin't say anything.

"Where they fire soldiers?" asked Kimeko.

"All except one," replied Rose.

"That explains it. Fire soldiers never give out invitations because their beautiful women were the first to be taken to Lord Oromashi's palace," said Kimeko.

"Okay, that makes me feel all better," said Aki with a wide smile. Kimeko smiled and shook her head. She wrapped up her whip and walked over to Rose. "This is yours."

"Really?" asked Rose, looking at the whip with a sparkle in her eye.

"Yes. I started making it the moment you left my house," said Kimeko. Rose finally took the thorn whip and looked it over. On the handle, she could clearly see a red earth character engraved on it. "Thank you," said Rose.

Kimeko smiled and said, "It made me happy to finally put my passion to work again. Take good care of it." Kimeko turned to leave.

"What will you do now?" asked Odin.

"I'll have to find somewhere else to stay for now. There's no doubt that soldiers will come back to bring me to Lord Oromashi for judgement," said Kimeko. Without another word, Kimeko Chibi walked away and out of sight. Since they knew it was best, the Element Warriors left the village that night.


	9. Master Archer

_Master Archer_

After another week of traveling across the main island of earth, the Element Warriors reached the bridge to the wind territory.

"You'd think we'd figure out a way to get by these guards without a fight," said Sonny.

"And what? We'd miss out on all the fun," said Aki.

"Fighting these soldiers might be easy enough, but it will be a real fight to take down that dragon," said Odin.

The girls walked up to the soldiers. The fire soldier held up his hand.

"Hault. We have a warrant for your arrest. Yes, we know. We've been through this routine before," said Sonny unenthusiastically.

The water soldier thrusted out his palm, and a blast of water flew at Sonny. Aki jumped in front of the Fire Warrior. She formed water around her right hand, and Aki slapped the water blast back at the soldier. The water soldier fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Sonny ran towards the fire soldier. To dodge a fire punch, she jumped onto the railing. The soldier threw another fire punch at Sonny, and she jumped into the air and the flames missed her. It seemed like slow motion to the Fire Warrior, but she took out her sword and sliced the soldier's right shoulder. When Sonny made a nice landing, the water soldier was back on his feet. Before he could successfully launch a water blast at Sonny, he was hit by Rose's earth sphere. It didn't keep him down because the water soldier got back up.

Odin ran up to Sonny. "I have an idea."

"Really? Why am I not surprised," said Sonny sarcastically.

Odin ignored it as she moved her hands in a circular motion, and the air in front of her started moving over her and to Odin's sides. Sonny had to fight the wind to get behind her sister. Odin yelled, "Stay right behind me." She even added a little wink.

Sonny smiled and nodded because she figured out what her sister was up to. Like Aki's earlier technique, Sonny formed fire around both of her hands. Odin started running towards the soldier with Sonny practically at her heels. The soldier brased himself. Just before Odin reached him, she cleared up her air drafting move and stepped to the right. With his eyes on the Wind Warrior, Sonny rammed her fire palms right into the soldier's abdomin. He flew back about four yards, and this time he didn't get back up. Rose left her flower, and they traveled along the bridge.

After many days of walking and dealing with the soldiers at the end of the bridge, the Element Warriors found themselves in Matsue.

"So we have to find Ryou Yamamoto?" asked Sonny. She looked around the village with her sisters. "Uncle said he's lean and has barely any hair. he remembered him wearing light blue clothes a lot," said Odin.

"Well that really helps," said Sonny.

"Yes, especially when you look around," said a voice.

The girls turned around and saw a man fitting Uncle Kagen's description. He chuckled at their reaction. "There's no way you're Ryou Yamamoto," said Aki.

"Why not?" asked the man.

"Because that was way too easy. You found us when we're _supposed_ to find you," replied Aki. After laughing, he said, "Come."

The girls followed, but instead of leading them to a house in the village, the man took the Element Warriors outside of the village towards a cave. "Uncle told us you lived in the village of Matsue," said Rose.

"Um, I had to find someplace to hide from the soldiers," answered the man. Odin stopped her sisters, and the man turned to look at them. "What is it, miss?"

"You're not the man we're looking for," said Odin.

"Now why would you say something like that?" said the man.

"One, you wouldn't have to come up with something to explain why we're coming out here instead of staying in the village. Two, you're nervous," said Odin. The man interrupted her, "There's nothing wrong with being nervous."

"Ryou Yamamoto is _always_ calm," replied Odin.

The man looked back at the cave, and twenty soldiers started running out of the cave. The girls started running away, but the soldiers were gaining on them.

"Odin, we'll have to fight," yelled Sonny.

Rose looked over her shoulder and yelled, "Aki, cover me."

"Alright," said Aki excitedly. She stopped running and quickly turned around. Aki didn't have time for what she was planning because the soldiers already grabbed her. "Hey," yelled the Water Warrior. She kicked and shoved, but Aki couldn't get the soldiers off of her. When Sonny heard her sister yell, she looked back and saw the perdicament the water girl was in. Sonny unbuckled her sword and held the handle and sheath in her hands. The Fire Warrior turned around and started running towards Aki. She smached a couple of soldiers with her weapon, but Sonny was quickly surrounded by soldiers. Rose looked back and yelled, "Sonny, Aki."

Odin looked back too and saw her sisters trying to fight the soldiers. The Wind Warrior stopped and force a gust of wind at the incoming soldiers. Most of them were blown back, but they still kept coming. It bought enough time for Rose to stop and raise giant spikes of earth out of the ground. Most of the soldiers were dangling from the top of the spikes, but Odin and Rose still had to handle the soldiers engulfing Sonny and Aki. Odin ran to Sonny's aid while Rose went to help Aki. There were seven soldiers trying to keep the Fire Warrior under control while five were surrounding the Water Warrior. Odin succeeded in pulling a soldier off of Sonny. The soldier raised his hand to slap the Wind Warrior, but an arrow went through his forearm. Odin was shocked and couldn't believe her eyes. Arrows started going through the legs of the soldiers struggling with the Element Warriors. Since they were wounded, Sonny and Aki were able to free themselves. Sonny strapped her sword back on and withdrew her blade out of the sheath. Seeing this, the one soldier yelled, "Retreat!"

The soldiers on the ground started limpping away, while Rose released the soldiers on her spikes. Once they were out of sight, Sonny said, "Aki, what were you thinking?"

"Rose told me to cover her, so I was going to make a line of water on the ground to form a wave. The soldiers grabbed me the moment I turned around," said Aki in her defense.

"Well Rose's plan would have handled all those soldiers if you wouldn't have messed up in the first place," replied Sonny.

"Well if memory serves me right, I wasn't the only one struggling with a group of soldiers," shot back Aki.

"Why you ungreatful brat! The only reason I turned around to was to help you," yelled Sonny.

"What good that did," replied Aki.

In a fit of rage, Sonny lunged towards Aki. Rose stopped her sister of fire and said, "Sisters, please don't fight." Sonny let go of her anger and turned her back on her sisters. "Sorry, Aki. It just scared me, that's all." The anger receded from Aki's face, and she hugged Sonny. She said excitedly, "It okay, Sonny. I LOVE YOU TOO!"

Hearing her two sisters brought Odin back to her senses. She started visualizing how that soldiers was standing and how the arrow struck his arm. When Odin looked in the direction she hypothesized where the arrow came from, she could see a tree in the distance. Some of the leaves ruffled, and an old man climbed down. Odin called to her sisters, and they ran to meet the man. When the Element Warriors reached him, he was holding a bow and had a pack of arrows on his back.

"So you're Ryou Yamamoto. I told you that finding him right away was way too easy. How did you know we'd be out here?" asked Aki.

"Someone in the village informed me that you were following a man you assumed was me," said Ryou Yamamoto.

"Would you be willing to help us?" asked Rose.

Mr. Yamamoto put his arm and head through his bow, so he wouldn't have to hold it anymore. "I don't see why not. After all, I helped a woman much like you four a long time ago." He turned and started walking back towards the village. The girls were surprised and ran to catch up with him. "You mean you helped our master?" asked Rose.

"If your master is Keiko Kurogane, then yes," said Mr. Yamamoto.

"How did you help her? Master didn't have a bow," said Sonny.

"I taught her the way of the wind," answered Ryou.

"So you're the wind sensei that always said about being as calm as the gentle wind," said Sonny. Ryou Yamamoto smiled. "Yes. Now how can I help you?"

"I wanted to become an archer," said Odin.

"If you're anything like your Master, that's very possible. Judging by your appearence, it's a safe bet that you are," said Mr. Yamamoto.

They finally reached the village, and he lead them to his house. "Well, this is where I live. I'll make sure to set up bedding arrangements for you. Feel free to roam around the village," said Ryou Yamamoto.

Throughout the day, the girls walked around the village, helping out whenever it was needed. Rose even made fruit for the poor. When they came back, four futons were laid out on the floor. Mr. Yamamoto was in another room. A light could be seen underneath the door, and the girls could hear a noise that kept repeating itself. Odin listened closer to the door, and she figured Ryou Yamamoto was carving. The rest went to sleep, but Odin only laid down in her futon, listening to the noises coming from the lit room. After awhile, Odin finally fell asleep, but Mr. Yamamoto still worked into the night.

The next morning, Aki was shacking Odin awake. "Come on, Odin. You have to see this," said Aki. Odin rubbed her eyes and sat up in her futon. She looked around to see what Aki was so excited about. When the Wind Warrior saw it, she couldn't help but stare in disbelief. Next to the door, leaning against the wall was a bow and a pack full of arrows. Odin got up and walked over to the bow and picked it up. She looked over the bow very carefully. It had curving lines carved into it, symbolizing the wind. The grip of the bow was thinner than the rest of it. On the grip was a brown wind character. The Wind Warrior tested out the string.

Before leaving, Odin left a note for Ryou Yamamoto.

"Mr. Yamamoto, you made an extrodinary bow for me, and you saved us from the soldiers yesterday. I'm forever greatful to you. Thank you, Odin."


	10. Swee Orphanage

_Swee Orphanage_

"So where are we going now?" asked Sonny.

"Lord Oromashi's palace. The sooner we take down that dragon, the better," replied Odin.

"But we're so close to the water territory. Can't we go visit Toshio?" asked Aki.

"Aki, we don't have time for that," said Sonny.

"I don't care. Toshio said we are always welcome, and I want to see him," replied Aki. She found a rock, sat down, crossed her arms, and looked away from her sisters.

"Aki, stop being so stubborn. We have to fulfill our promise to Master," said Sonny.

"No," said Aki.

Sonny walked over to Aki. She put her arms around the Water Warrior and lifted her up over Sonny's left shoulder. Aki started beating Sonny's back that wasn't covered by her sheath. When that proved pointless, Aki formed water around her fists and proceeded to pound on the Fire Warrior's back. Sonny gave in and knelt down. Aki escaped her sister and ran back to the rock to sit down in her stubborn pose.

"Aki, that was completely unnecessary," yelled Sonny.

Aki yelled back, "So was picking me up without my consent."

Sonny got mad and got to her feet. Before she could charge at her sister, Odin said, "Now hold on. There's no need to fight over this."

"What do you suggest?" asked Sonny. She was massaging her back where Aki had hit her.

"How about a vote?" replied Odin.

Aki looked over and jumped up. "Yay, we're being democratic about things." She joined the huddle, and Odin looked at her sisters. "Okay, since there're four of us, and I'm sort of the group's leader, my vote doesn't count." The others nodded and Odin continued on. "Alright, all those in favor of going to the lord's palace, raise your hand."

"Oh, wow. You're being so formal," said Aki. She laughed, and Rose smiled.

Sonny raised her hand, and Odin said, "Okay, all those in favor of seeing Toshio, raise your hand." Aki raised her hand proudly. After a moment, Rose shyly raised her hand.

"It's decided then. We're going to visit Toshio," said Odin.

"Yay," said Aki. She started dancing around, singing, "We're going to see Toshio."

When they reached the bridge, it was being guarded by a fire and earth soldier.

"Do we have to fight them?" asked Rose.

"Aw, come on, Rose. Fighting is fun," replied Aki.

Odin gave her water sister a look and said, "The bridge is the only way across. We really don't have a choice."

"Well, what about floating across the water," asked Rose.

Odin thought about it and said," That's actually not a bad idea. Aki can make a piece of ice large enough for us to fit on. By influencing the water, she can guide us right to the water territory."

The girls looked at Aki, and the Water Warrior said, "Fine, but just this one time."

It was an hour before dusk when they reached the other territory. The Element Warriors looked around and saw a familiar city.

"Oita," said Aki.

"Want to check it out this time, Odin?" asked Sonny.

"Sure. We might be able to get some supplies tomorrow," said Odin.

By the time the girls reached the city, it was dark and all the lights in the houses were out.

"Let's find an alley we can rest in," said Odin. They looked around as they continued walking. As the girls past a closed shop, Odin heard a noise come from inside. She stopped, so did the others.

"Odin, what's wrong?" asked Rose.

"I heard a noise inside that shop," answered Odin.

"I'm sure it's just somebody that can't get to sleep," said Sonny. Odin looked at Sonny and said," I guess you're right."

They turned but before they started walking away, they heard a crash behind them. They looked and saw a man getting up from the ground just outside the shop. Someone inside lit a lantern, and the man got up and ran away.

"Hey," yelled Sonny. She ran after him and the other warriors followed her lead.

"Yep, he's definitely a person that couldn't sleep, Sonny," said Aki.

Odin increased her speed and tackled the fleeing person. When she turned him over, Odin realized he was only around fourteen or fifteen. "What? You're only a kid," said Sonny when she caught up to them.

"Hah, what's happening to our youth today?" said Aki with a smile.

"Let me go," yelled the boy.

"Now hold on," said Odin, struggling with the boy. "Who are you, and why were you stealing?"

"Mind your own business, lady," snapped the boy.

"Could one of you give me a hand?" asked Odin.

"I will," said Aki. She stepped forward, held the boy's head in her hands, and gave him a long smooch. After a moment, he stopped struggling with Odin. When Aki ended the kiss, Odin said, "Now answer me."

"Alright, my name is Daru. I was taking food to feed the hungry orphans at the Swee Orphanage," said Daru.

Odin thought it over and said, "Fine, we'll make a deal with you. You give us a place to sleep for the night, and we'll see what we can do for the orphans. It's either that or we'll take you back to face the consequences."

"Deal," said Daru. Odin left him up, and he said, "Follow me."

As they did, Sonny said, "Aki, leave it up to you to kiss a total stranger."

"I didn't hear any complaints from him," replied Aki with a smile.

Daru lead them straight to the Swee Orphanage. He said, "Try and stay quiet. I'm pretty sure Retasu put the children to bed already."

Daru walked over and opened the door. He welcomed them in and led them to the area the children slept. Opening the closet, Daru pulled out four futons. The girls got into them while Daru left to store the food he stole. He returned and slipped into his own futon. Before going to sleep, Rose looked at all the children. She thought they looked so adorable sleeping peacefully. It was terrible to know that they were starving.

When Rose woke up the next morning, the orphans were staring at her and the rest. She nudged her sisters awake, and they were surprised to see seven children surrounding them.

"Hi," said Aki.

A young boy stepped forward from the little circle. "Are you really the Element Warriors?"

"Yes we are," said Aki excitedly. "What are your names?"

"I'm Chaz," answered the boy that asked the question. "I'm Daru's favorite."

"Yeah. You get into just as much trouble as he does," said another boy.

"Do not," yelled Chaz. Everyone except Chaz laughed.

The boy that made the statement to Chaz said," Anyway, my name is Gohan." He put his arm around the smaller boy standing next to him. "This is my little brother, Moki."

"I'm Kai," said another boy. He looked at the girl standing next to him. She was about ten years old. "This is Raye."

"My name is Miyabi," said a little girl.

The Element Warriors turned their attention to the last girl. She blushed and said, "M-My na-me is Yu-kin-a."

"Yukina, that's a beautiful name," replied Rose.

"Are you shy?" asked Aki. Yukina nodded, and Aki said, "Aw, don't worry about that. Rose is shy sometimes too."

Yukina smiled and blushed even more. Chaz started jumping up and down. "Oh, oh. You have to meet Retasu."

The girls got out of the futons and followed the children to the dining room. They saw a woman preparing rice, and the Element Warriors assumed she was Retasu. She had long hair and seemed very nice.

"You're the extra guests Daru told me about. Please, sit down and eat with us," said Retasu.

The girls and the children sat down and accepted the rice bowls from Retasu. Rose looked around and said, "Where's Daru?"

"He went outside. He usually does around this time in the morning," replied Retasu. The Element Warriors just looked at each other. Retasu obviously didn't know about Daru's mischievous activities.

"Miss Retasu, how do you get the food for the children? Do you receive money from the people?" asked Sonny.

"No," replied Retasu. She sighed before continuing on. "Daru is working for the money. I don't necessarily approve of it, but we are forced to do such things to get by."

"Well, why don't the people help?" asked Rose, worried.

Retasu closed her eyes before saying, "Lord Oromashi forbids it. He looks down upon orphans, seeing them as children with no purpose or future. An Achilles heel in the prospering plans he has for Japan."

Rose remained silent as she observed the children. The conversation brought a frown to their sweet innocent faces, it nearly broke the Earth Warrior's heart.

"I have an idea. If you don't mind Retasu, my sisters and I will get to work on it after breakfast," said Odin before eating a mouthful of rice.

"But it's forbidden. The lord will have you taken away and executed," exclaimed Kai. He looked at the warriors with pleading eyes.

"Don't worry, Kai. We'll be just fine. Helping you and your friends is important," said Rose. She looked at him with reassurance in her expression.

After breakfast, the children played in the yard while the Element Warriors went to work. Odin and Sonny set up a fence, while Rose and Aki formed their small rice field. It was around afternoon when Daru arrived with a package in his hands. Odin saw him and left Sonny to complete the finishing touches with the fence.

"I assume that's evidence of another one of your crimes," said Odin, looking at the package.

Daru didn't answer; he just observed the new landscaping in front of the orphanage. "What is that?"

"That's our solution," answered Odin.

Rose and Aki finished their end of the work and walked over to Daru. "If you don't like it, tough. We've been working on it all morning," said Aki.

As Sonny was finishing, Odin explained to Daru how to keep after the rice field.  
>When the Element Warriors went to leave, the children gathered around them.<p>

"Don't forget us," said Kai.

"Of course we won't forget you. Now come on, give us a hug," said Aki.

The four girls knelt down and hugged the orphans. As they walked away, the Element Warriors waved good-bye.

When they were out of sight, Aki said, "Hey, Odin. How comes we knew how to form and take care of that rice field?"

"My best guess is that we inherited some of Master's knowledge. She did grow up in a rice field with her parents before living with Toshio," said Odin.

"Well, it's a good thing because we helped those adorable kids," replied Aki with a smile. Her sisters shared her smile and happiness as they continued on their journey.


	11. Odin's Infatuation

_Odin's Infatuation_

"Are we there yet?" asked Aki. "No," answered Odin. After another minute of walking, Aki said, "Are we there yet?" Sonny turned around to look at her. "Yep."

"Really?" asked Aki excitedly. At the same time, Odin and sonny said, "No."

"Aw, come on. We've been walking for days now. It shouldn't be taking this long to reach Toshio's house."

"Aki, it took us a month to fin Toshio last time. Just stop complaining and we'll be there before you know it," said Odin. The Wind Warrior stopped walking, and her three sisters turned their attention to her. "What is it?" asked Rose.

"Someone's in trouble," replied Odin. She started running in a different direction, and the rest followed.

They found a man on his knees, being harassed by two earth soldiers. "I'll show you the consequences for making me look like a fool," yelled the one earth soldier. Before the Element Warriors could intervene, a man appeared out of nowhere. He rammed his forearms into the back of the earth soldier that yelled at the defenseless man. The other soldier shot the guy into the sky by quickly raising the ground beneath him. The soldiers sent boulders flying at him, but none of them hit because he used his wind abilities.

The Element Warriors used this opportunity to help the vigilante out. Odin grabbed her bow and withdrew an arrow from her pack. She released the arrow and it struck the closest soldier's right calf. Abandoning his pitching practice with the falling man, the other soldier started throwing boulders at the Element Warriors. Aki jumped to dodge one of the boulders and threw a water blast at him. The soldier blocked it by raising the earth in front of him. Sonny reached the rock barrier, punched through it, and hit him in the face. He was knocked unconscious. The kneeling man finally got up and ran away.

"Aki, I think he might need some landing assistance," said Odin. Aki looked up at the falling man. Where he was about to land, Aki made a giant blob of water. He fell into it and made a splash. Aki released the water, and the man was fine.

"Wow, thanks. I never expected to meet the Element Warriors," said the man.

"That's nice. Now who are you?" asked Sonny.

"Sorry. How rude of me. My name is Daisuke," replied the man. He politely bowed to the girls. "So, what are you doing out here?" asked Sonny.

"Much like you, I'm trying to help people. I guess I wasn't very effective today," replied Daisuke, scratching his head nervously. "I'd love to join you."

"Sorry, the wind _master_ position on our team has been filled," replied Sonny. Odin smiled and laughed uncomfortably. "Please give me a moment to discuss this with my sisters in private." The Element Warriors walked a little distance away and gathered together so Daisuke wouldn't hear them. Aki started the conversation by saying, "Sonny, what is up with you?"

"I don't know. There's just something not right about him. Besides, he wouldn't be useful in the group. His fighting skills stink," replied Sonny.

"He can improve his fighting abilities. Anyway, power in numbers, remember," said Odin. Sonny threw her hands up in the air, "Odin, come on. Our chances of slaying the dragon won't go up by adding a member that won't benefit our odds. If anything, he'll hold us back because we'll try to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Sonny, give him a chance. He might even know information that could be valuable to us," replied Odin.

"Wait a minute," said Sonny. She looked at Daisuke and back at her wind sister. "You think he's hot don't you?" Odin was taken aback while Aki and Rose looked at the Wind Warrior in surprise. "Sonny, you should know better than that. Master named me after a god of wisdom. Every decision I make is for the best," replied Odin.

"Then why are you blushing, O' wise one," asked Sonny with an eyebrow raised.

"Because you're embarrassing her, and I'll put you in your place if you don't stop this nonsense," stated Aki. Sonny put her fists on her hips. "Oh yeah? I'd love to see you try."

Before Aki could respond, Rose stepped in between her two siblings. The Earth Warrior waited a moment and said, "Sonny how about this. We let him join us for now, and if he does anything to break our trust, we send him packing." Sonny crossed her arms and said, "Might as well just save our time because i don't trust him."

"Sonny, please," said Rose. She held her hands together and looked at her fire sister with adorable eyes. Sonny looked away because she couldn't handle the sight of her sister's adorableness. "Give him a chance, Sonny."

Aki stood next to Rose and copied her sister's adorable look. Sonny looked at them and said, "Fine." She pointed her finger at Odin, "But one slip up and he's gone." Odin held up her right hand and said, "I promise."

The Element Warriors walked back over to Daisuke, and Odin said, "It's been decided. You may join our group."

"Great," yelled Daisuke excitedly.

The Element Warriors started walking towards Toshio again, and Daisuke followed them. Getting bored from the silence, Aki finally said, "So Daisuke, why did you decide to help the good people of Japan?"

"Well, it's terrible to say, but I used to be a soldier under Lord Oromashi's command," said Daisuke. Odin looked at sonny, but the Fire Warrior didn't make a comment. She only narrowed her eyebrows in anger. Daisuke continued on, "I was actually standing guard over the dragon. After maybe a year, I finally had enough of seeing people being fed to the huge monster. I wanted to save people from that fate."

"Wait, so you know slid information about the dragon?" asked Odin.

"Yes. Most of the rumors are true. Like its fire breath and impenetrable skin," said Daisuke.

"Why are weapons useless against it?" asked Rose. Daisuke answered by saying, "Its scales are composed of solid gold."

Aki quietly made her way to Sonny and whispered into her sister's ear, "Still don't trust him?" Sonny looked at her and said in a hushed tone, "Just because he's proving to be useful, doesn't mean it's okay to trust him. We don't even know he's telling us the truth about the dragon. We'll only know when we see it for ourselves."

Daisuke didn't notice the little conversation going on between the two girls, so he continued to tell the other warriors about the dragon. "He can't be harmed by hot or freezing temperatures. There's basically no way to slay it."

Aki heard his comment and said, "Of course there is. Odin is the one person that can figure it out."

"Really?" said Daisuke. He looked at Odin with his eyebrows raised and a grin on his face. "So I take it that you're the leader of the group," commented Daisuke.

"No. We're a team that works together. No leader gives out orders," replied Odin. Daisuke smiled and said, "Nah. You're just saying that so nobody gets jealous."

"You're right. She is the leader because all her decisions are for the _best_," said Sonny. Odin gave Sonny a dirty look, and the Fire Warrior just looked away.

"I admire a woman that's in control," said Daisuke. Odin blushed even more and kept facing forward the rest of the time.

Later in the evening, they finally stopped to make camp. "Daisuke, why don't you go find some firewood while we get everything ready for dinner," said Odin.

"Okay," said Daisuke. He ran off to do the favor.

Rose made strawberries and bananas. Aki got out four cups that Uncle Kagen gave to them and filled the domes with water. Sonny just sat down, waiting for Daisuke to come back with the firewood. Odin took two of the cups from Aki and sat next to Sonny. "Here," she said as she handed one of the cups to the Fire Warrior. Sonny took it and drank some of the liquid. "Sonny, I know you don't like Daisuke, but he isn't that bad."

Sonny looked at Odin and said, "I don't dislike him, Odin. I just don't trust him. It's almost like my instincts are trying to warn me or something."

Odin stared into her sister's eyes for a long time before finally looking away. "You're just protective, that's all."

Sonny looked away in disappointment, and Daisuke finally came back with the firewood. "Took you long enough," replied Sonny. Daisuke smiled and said, "Sorry. I guess I just wanted to make sure I had good firewood."

"Wow, I didn't know there was bad firewood. No wonder some of them burnt out quickly," replied Aki. Daisuke laughed and laid down the firewood in the middle of their circle.

They ate the fruit and when the sun began to set, Sonny created embers to start the fire.

Daisuke left the group to watch sun go down in the west. After a moment, Odin joined him. "Is something wrong, Daisuke?" His gaze shifted to her and smiled. "No. I just thought the sun setting is beautiful."

"Well, it's not really a good idea because the rays of the sun can hurt your eyes," replied Odin. Daisuke laughed and said, "Sometimes it's worth it. There's only one thing I can think of that's more beautiful."

"What's that?" asked Odin. He looked at her and said, "You." Odin avoided his stare as she cleared her throat. Daisuke could clearly see that she was blushing and said, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Brush off my advances," answered Daisuke. Odin refused to look into his green eyes. "This isn't the time for love and romance."

"That's a silly excuse, there's always a little time for love. It's because your sister doesn't like me, right," said Daisuke.

"She doesn't dislike you. She told me so herself," replied Odin defensively.

"That's what she says. How do you know she said that just to make sure you wouldn't get upset," said Daisuke. Odin thought it over for a minute. The statement sounded reasonable enough, even though Sonny was the type of person to speak her mind. "She never lied to me. There's no reason for her to start now."

Daisuke decided to let the matter go and held her hand. Odin blushed and smiled at him. Without saying anything else, they watched the sun set together.

When the fire was beginning to die out, the girls decided to turn in instead of fetching more firewood. After half an hour, Daisuke got up and formed an ember above his palm. He checked the girls to make sure they were sleeping before he left the campsite. Sonny opened her eyes and they were glowing red like before. She quietly got up and followed him.

When he finally stopped, he called out, "Chou."

Sonny heard some rustle of leaves, and saw another figure walk up to Daisuke. The Fire Warrior returned her eye sight to normal. In Daisuke's fire light, Sonny could see that the other figure was the elderly man that was kneeling before the two earth soldiers earlier that day.

"So, everything is going well," asked Chou.

"It's going perfectly. The leader is eating right out of my hand," replied Daisuke with a smile. Sonny's temper fumed, but she kept herself under control to avoid discovery.

"Good, Lord Oromashi will be very pleased. These four girls are even more of a nuisance then Public Enemy Number One," said Chou. Daisuke waited a moment before saying, "Is everything set?"

"Of course, fifty soldiers are ready for an ambush tomorrow. All you have to do is make sure they walk right into it," replied Chou.

Sonny felt confident that she heard enough. She changed her eyes back to the glowing red, and made her way back to the campsite.

The next morning, Sonny woke up before everyone else. She had some time to think the situation over. An army of fifty soldiers were waiting to demolish them. Daisuke and his partner, Chou, were eager to make their mark in history as the ones to lead the Element Warriors to their downfall. Sonny would rather die than let that happen.

When everyone was finally awake, Daisuke was anxious to get going. "So are we ready to go?"

"Um, yeah," replied Odin.

"Why don't we eat breakfast? Everyone says it's the most important meal of the day," said Sonny.

"Yeah. I'm HUNGRY! We always eat peanuts and rice in the morning," replied Aki.

"Well, nourishment is important," said Odin, somewhat uncomfortable. Daisuke scratched his head, "Um, okay."

"What's the hurry, Daisuke. You don't even know where we're going," said Sonny as she put her arms behind her head and stretched out on the ground in a relaxing pose. Daisuke kept scratching his head and looked around nervously, "Yeah, I guess I'm just eager to fight some soldiers today."

Sonny tilted her head like she was thinking about it. "I guess we all have those moments. How many soldiers are you in the mood to take on? Fifty?"

Sonny could see the sweat starting to form on his face. "Ah, no. Not that many." Sonny shrugged and said, "Yeah. Fifty probably would be too many soldiers at once." Daisuke didn't say anything in return, and within minutes Rose gave everyone peanuts and a bowl of rice.

Sonny propped herself up with her elbows as she remained laying on the ground. "Hey, Daisuke. You know more stuff about Japan. Do people usually manipulate more than one element?"

"No. The only person to ever do that was Public Enemy Number One," answered Daisuke before shoveling rice into his mouth.

Sonny tilted her head and narrowed her eyebrows. "Wow, that's weird. Last night, I saw an ember above someone's hand after we went to sleep. I'm the only fire master here. Unless you can manipulate fire that is, but that wouldn't make sense. Yesterday, it _looked_ like you were using wind abilities to avoid those boulders those earth soldiers were chucking at you. If you manipulate fire, that would mean the soldiers weren't even trying to hit you with those boulders. Even the possibility that _someone_ we weren't paying attention to was using their wind abilities to make you look like a wind master."

"Sonny, what are you doing?" yelled Odin.

Sonny looked surprised and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not trying to do anything. I did see an ember above someone's hand."

"You're just making that up because you don't want him in the group," yelled Odin. Aki put her hand to her chin as she looked at Daisuke. "I don't know, Odin. He is acting awfully nervous."

"So you're taking her side in this?" said Odin. She looked at the one sister that didn't have their say so far. "Rose, where do you stand in all of this?" asked Odin angrily.

Rose nervously looked at all her sisters before saying, "I trust Sonny, Odin."

Odin threw her arms into the air and said, "Fine. you want him out of the group, alright. You can have your way because you don't need me either." She bent down to collect her things in her bag. When she stood up, Sonny was standing in front of her. The Fire Warrior placed her hands on Odin's shoulders. "Odin, I'm doing this because I love you, and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sonny punched Odin in the face, and the Wind Warrior landed on her rear end. Odin touched her nose, saw her own blood, and got to her feet. She dropped her pack and threw a punch at Sonny. The Fire Warrior quickly grabbed Odin's wrist and twisted the arm behind the Wind Warrior's back. Odin cried out in pain. "Odin, please listen to me. You're not thinking straight," said Sonny.

Daisuke went to help Odin, but Aki elbowed him in the stomach. When he bent over to cover his abdomen, Rose slammed her forearms into his back. He went down, and Aki said, "Now behave. This fight is between Odin and Sonny. I'm just surprised that Odin is the one she's fighting instead of me."

Odin maneuvered her arm so that she was facing Sonny. The Wind Warrior shoved Sonny, and the fire girl fell onto her back. Sonny didn't move right away, and Odin aimed a punch at her sister's face. Sonny quickly rolled over, so Odin only hit the ground. The Fire Warrior got up and said, "Think about it, Odin. All our lives so far, we've been together. We always looked out for each other and shared all our happiness and sadness."

Odin refused to listen and pushed a gust of wind at Sonny. The Fire Warrior formed her fire shield, but it was quickly destroyed by the power of Odin's attack. Sonny went flying and landed on her back. Rose went to run to Sonny's aid, but Aki put her arm in front of the Earth Warrior. Aki looked at Rose and shook her head. They continued to watch their sisters' quarrel.

The Wind Warrior walked up to Sonny and looked down at her. The Fire Warrior propped herself up on her elbows and looked back at Odin. "Odin, I've never lied to you before. Why should I start now? He left the campsite last night to meet the man that was in trouble yesterday. They've been in this all along. Daisuke's partner has it all set up for fifty soldiers to ambush us today."

Odin didn't move. She just stood there, staring into her sister's eyes. Sonny's words echoed through her mind. _I've never lied to you before. Why should I start now?_ Didn't she use those words herself to defend Sonny yesterday. Odin's eyes moistened as the shame of her actions swarmed over her.

"Sonny, I..." said Odin. She couldn't find the words to convey to her sister how sorry she was.

One look into the Wind Warriors eyes melted Sonny's heart. She saw pain in the beautiful brown eyes that belonged to her wind sister. No punch, no flesh wound could ever hurt as much as the emotion Sonny felt inside.

Sonny looked at Daisuke with a new found anger. Her master once told her that she shouldn't rely on her anger as an energy source. That fire masters before her didn't use anger to perfect their genuine gift. The Fire Warrior honored her master and followed her advice like any good student, but not this time. The passion for her sister's pain burned inside her like an inferno.

The Fire Warrior got to her feet and turned her attention back to Odin. "Fifty soldiers are waiting for us. I'm sure you have a plan."

Trying to find her voice, Odin managed to say, "Sonny."

"It's dangerous and we'll find ourselves in difficult situations, remember?" said Sonny.

Odin laughed and smiled, thinking back to that day when the four of them promised to slay the dragon. How the expectant faces watched her make her own decision. "I guess that's a good reason I should tag along."

"So, do we have a plan?" asked Aki.

Odin, feeling silly for forgetting that they weren't alone, looked at Rose and Aki. Her sight landed squarely on Daisuke. "I most definitely have a plan," said Odin. Daisuke gulped, knowing the smile on the Wind Warrior's lips only meant trouble for him.


	12. White Rose

_The White Rose_

Daisuke was walking through the woods, ars bound by rope, and a brown uwagi sleeve muffling his mouth. He finally encountered the soldiers his partner organized. Chou ran up to hi and pulled down the uwagi sleeve.

"Chou, it's a trap," yelled Daisuke.

The wind started blowing around them. The soldiers were bamboozled as the breeze started to get stronger.

"Twister," yelled a soldier. He pointed in the air, and everyone looked up as the wind started to form the funnel. The soldiers ran, but the funnel followed them. When the tornado finally touched the ground, Chou and Daisuke watched the soldiers and trees fly in the vortex.

"Yum, soldier swirl. All we need is the ice cream," exclaimed Aki.

Chou looked behind Daisuke and saw four figures emerging from the shadows. Odin was moving her hands back and forth in a circular motion, obviously controlling the twister.

"Let them go," yelled Chou.

"For what? So they can bring us in to be executed and you can collect your reward and fame. Forget it," replied Sonny.

Out of anger for ruining their plans, Daisuke charged after the Fire Warrior. Sonny moved out of his way, withdrew her sword, and cut the rope that imprisoned his arms. "That's right, big boy," exclaimed Sonny. "This is going to be a fair fight because I don't want to hold back."

Sonny returned her sword to its sheath and took her stance. Daisuke threw several punches at each other. When Daisuke threw his final punch, Sonny evaded it and collided into Odin. They both fell to the ground, and the tornado cleared up.

"Look Rose. It's every woman's dream, raining men," said Aki.

There were about ten water manipulators among the soldiers, so they prepared a safe landing for the army. Odin got to her feet, withdrew her bow, and said, "Get ready."

Aki and Rose got out their weapons, and Sonny posed herself with her sword in hand.

Still furious, Daisuke got up and punched Sonny in the stomach. When he tried to hit her again, Sonny caught his wrist with her free hand. She swung him around that he hit a tree trunk face first.

"Aki, I believe this is a great time for you tidal wave," said Odin.

"Yay," exclaimed Aki. She created a long line of water in front of them, and soon it turned into a hug wave. Completing Odin's request, Rose made an earth surfboard for the Wind Warrior. As the wave crashed towards the soldiers, Odin was surfing it and suing her archery skills to bring down five soldiers. When the wave passed all the soldiers, Odin slide on the ground with her surfboard and jumped off.

She turned around and released arrows into two more soldiers. A soldier charged towards her. Odin quickly griped the bottom of her bow and swung it like a bat, hitting the oncoming soldier in the face. A water soldier made three ice spears and launched them at the Wind Warrior. Odin twisted herself away to avoid the sharp projectiles. While her back was towards him, she returned her right hand to the grip of her bow and withdrew another arrow from her pack. One she was facing him again, the wind girl released the arrow into the water soldier's shoulder.

While all this was happening, Aki, Rose, and Sonny were handling the soldiers on their side of the battlefield. With her tonfa blasters in hand, Aki shot ice rounds and immobilized seven soldiers. After freezing the seventh soldier, the Water Warrior looked at an earth soldier standing two feet away from her. He was saving his fingers for her to challenge him. She threw her right tonfa blaster into the air, caught it by the stick close to the handle, an use the length of the blaster to smack the soldier in the head.

A fire soldier was bombarding Rose with fire punches. To protect herself, Rose created her earth shield. Holding her whip in one hand and maintaining the shield with the other, the Earth Warrior lashed her thon whip down through her shield. The end of the whip scratched the middle of the fire soldier's face, leaving a deep cut starting from his forehead and ending at the tip of his nose. The soldier grabbed his wound and back up into another fire soldier. The unwounded soldier threw a fire punch at Rose. She turned around, raised her hand into the air, flattened her palm that was parallel to the ground, and generated her earth energy to form her earth disk. Before the fire punch hit her back, Sonny jumped in front of the blast and destroyed it with her sword. Immediately afterwards, Rose swung her arm, releasing the earth disk in front of her. The soldiers were confused as to why the Earth Warrior would throw her weapon away from them. Their confusion dissipated when they saw that the disk made a curve, flying towards them. The projectile slammed into the two fire soldiers, as well as four more of their comrades.

Sonny sheathed her sword, and Rose ran off to fight more soldiers.

A wind soldier ran up to Sonny and grabbed her by the throat. The Fire Warrior tried to pull his hand away, but she was unsuccessful. Finally, she raised her left arm, brought her elbow down onto the soldier's extended arm that was imprisoning her, and used the heel of her palm to break his nose. He fell back giving another fire soldier the opportunity to throw a fire punch at Sonny. Instead of withdrawing her sword, Sonny formed flames around her right hand. When the blast of fire came closer, she held her hand out to it. When the blast hit her hand, the flames surrounding it became brighter and stronger. The fire soldier was baffled, so he punched two more blasts at the warrior. Like before, Sonny allowed the fire punches to hit her right hand. It had the same effect on the flames dancing around her hand, and the Fire Warrior started walking towards the fire soldier. He threw several more fire punches, but Sonny absorbed the energy of all of them. By the time she reached the flabbergasted soldier, the fire around her hand was blazing. She balled her hand into a fist and punched the fire soldier in the abdomen. He fell to the ground and writhed in pain. There was a hole in his uwagi were Sonny punched him, and his skin was bright red. Eight more soldiers tried to attack the Fire Warrior, but she gave them all first degree burns using her right hand.

When Sonny saw Odin on the other side of the battlefield, the Fire Warrior let the fire die away from her hand. She fled behind Aki and Rose, and Sonny formed white embers above her hands. Before the Fire Warrior could follow through with her plan, she was tackled from behind by Daisuke. He squeezed his arms around her middle. Sonny struggled to get lose, but his hold was too strong. "Let go of me you jerk," screamed sonny. He only squeezed harder.

Thinking of how Odin needed her and remembering the pain her wind sister suffered this morning, the powerful feeling of passion and anger returned to Sonny. She closed her eyes and started to concentrate her power, these emotions into her energy. Her hair, nails, uwagi, zubon, and uwabaki started to glow red. Daisuke made sounds of pain as he tried to keep his hold on the Fire Warrior. She was practically on fire, and he finally had to let go. Sonny opened her eyes and the lowing vanished. She observed Daisuke. The front of his uwagi was burnt away, and his arms and torso was red and covered in blisters.

Sonny turned her attention back on what she was trying to do before. She held her hands out and formed two white embers of fire. The Fire Warrior moved the two white flames together to form one larger flame. It erupted, and Sonny used the massive white fire to form a large white bird of flames. She sent the phoenix of fire flying in Odin's direction.

The Wind Warrior saw the white flaming bird flying towards her. The bird swooped down and injured three soldiers. When the white phoenix reached Odin, it stopped right behind her. The soldiers stared at it, and the phoenix started to release fire from its mouth at them. When the flamethrower of white was done, the white fire phoenix was gone, and ten more soldiers were injured.

"Yay. Four soldiers left. It's a one-on-one fight," said Aki.

The Element Warriors surrounded the soldiers as the men took their stances. The girls put away their weapons and paired themselves up with the soldier that manipulated their own elements.

The fire solider threw three fire punches at Sonny. She copied his move so that their blasts collided halfway in between them. The Fire Warrior smiled and said, "That's all you got? I expected more." The fire soldier responded by punching multiple fire blasts at Sonny. When he was worn out, a massive fire was burning. He stepped closer to examine the fire, but he didn't see a corpse among the flames. The fire soldier looked around, bamboozled. Before he knew it, Sonny came up from behind him and elbowed him in the gut. Ignoring the pain, he swung his arm around t hit Sonny. The Fire Warrior caught his limb and twisted it. The soldier yelled in agony before Sonny used her free hand to punch him in the face, which knock him unconscious.

The wind soldier started his fight with Odin by forcing a gust of wind at her. Odin calmly closed her eyes and let the wind pass her. The soldier was astonished that the Wind Warrior wasn't pushed back by the powerful gust he sent out. Odin started running towards the soldier. He forced another gust of wind at her, but the Wind Warrior was completely unfazed. She stopped in front of him and spin kicked the soldier in the face. He fell to the ground and before he could stand up, Odin jabbed her index and middle finger into the pressure point on his shoulder and knocked him out.

The earth soldier made huge veins shoot out of the ground at Rose. She quickly ran out of the way and formed a red rose in her hand. The Earth Warrior threw her flower at the man. He was unaware of the threat this rose had in store for him. Once the flower touched him, the stem started growing out and wrapping itself around his body. The soldier screamed as the thorns scratched open his skin. Gathering up his strength, he freed his arms from the painful stem around them. The soldier ripped the stem covering his legs and turned his attention back onto Rose. She didn't seem surprised, but she waited for him to make a move. The earth soldier formed a boulder and threw it at her. As the boulder reached her, Rose jumped that she landed on it. The Earth Warrior jumped off the boulder towards the soldier.

Unlike the rest of the Element Warriors, Aki was the first to make a move against her opponent. She formed a small water ball and threw it at the water soldier. He dodged it and lunged towards Aki. Before he reached her to attack, he was hit in the back by the water ball he previously dodged. He fell to his hands and knees. "I bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?" said Aki as she laughed. Angered, the soldier created some water in his hand and splashed it in her face. He got onto his feet and threw a punch at her. He missed, and Aki slapped his cheek. "Hey, that wasn't nice. You made my uwagi wet." The water soldier threw another punch but was unsuccessful. At that moment, the Water Warrior saw Rose jumping off the moving boulder. Aki looked at the earth soldier and saw he was forming another boulder to launch at her sister. The Water Warrior held both of her palms out and forced a jet f water into the water soldier. He flew back and collided with the earth soldier.

When Rose landed on her feet, Aki ran to her side. "Thanks, Aki."

Aki smiled and replied, "Well, this is getting boring. What do you say we finish this?"

The earth girl nodded, and they stood facing their opponents. Aki held out her right hand, and Rose held out her left hand. Their backs were towards each other, and their fingertips were slightly curled. In Rose's palm, a small, brown ball formed, and a blue one in Aki's palm. Once they fully straightened their fingertips, the small orbs shot out in waves. The blue and brown intertwined around each other before they hit the soldiers. When the energy vanished, the soldiers were laying on the ground unconscious.

Everyone was finally done fighting. Sonny sat down on a rock nearby. Observing Aki and Rose's attack, the Fire Warrior said, "I thought you said this would be a one-on-one fight. It doesn't look that way to me."

"Hey," replied Aki. "I can't help that I'm awesome."

Sonny raised her eyebrows. "Come on, Sonny. You have to admit that that attack was pretty cool," said Aki. Reflecting back on the blue and brown waves swirling around before impact, Sonny said, "Yes, Aki. That was pretty cool."

"See, told you so," replied Aki with a wide smile.

Rose created her four-budded flower and dropped it on the battlefield. They left without looking back.

Chou left the shadows of the trees to aid his partner.

"Get off of me," yelled Daisuke. He shoved the old man's hands away. Daisuke got to his feet with much difficulty because of his second degree burns. He walked over to the flower Rose left behind and picked it up He ripped off the white rose and set it on fire in his palm.

Chou could see the anger in Daisuke's eyes. "Daisuke, you need to rest and have your wounds healed."

Daisuke didn't reply to his partner. He just stood where he was with the burning white rose, staring in the direction the Element Warriors traveled.

"Daisuke?"

Daisuke still refused to respond, so Chou stepped into his line of sight. "What do you want?" asked Daisuke angrily.

"Daisuke, we must leave," replied Chou.

"You go. I want to work alone from now on," said Daisuke.

Chou was stunned. He never expected their partnership to end. Ever since Lord Oromashi took over, they've been working together. Looking out for each other, doing what was necessary to get by. "Daisuke, what are you saying?" The youth didn't answer, and Chou said, "Do you really think you can bring them down all by yourself? Look around you, Daisuke. They just won a fight against fifty soldiers. You don't have a chance."

Daisuke looked down at his palm. The white rose was completely gone by down. All that was left as the flames that Daisuke refused to let burn out. "I don't want to bring the four of them down, just one," replied the youth. He started walking away, but Chou caught his arm. Daisuke winced at the pain, and he looked at Chou with even more anger. "If you don't let me go, I'll no longer be your friend. Am I making myself perfectly clear?" yelled Daisuke.

A tear formed in Chou's eye as he released his grip. He then watched Daisuke walk out of his life forever.


	13. Rose's Dilemma

_Rose's Dilemma_

Only days after the huge fight, the Element Warriors reached Toshio's home among the rice fields. They made sure the coast was clear before Odin knocked on the door. When Toshio opened the door, he was clearly surprised, but nevertheless delighted that they came to visit him.

He left them in and looked out the window to make sure that nobody saw them. Returning to his weaving machine, Toshio started the conversation by saying, "You've certainly made a name for yourselves."

"Hey, it comes with the job. If men didn't want their butts kicked by sexy women, then they should have left us go," replied Aki.

Toshio looked at Aki and saw the tonfa blasters in the holster around her hips. "I take it that Uncle was very helpful then."

"Yeah, he was awesome. You should go visit him sometime, Toshio," said Aki.

"I can't. I need to keep up with my orders," replied Toshio.

"That's a lame excuse. What's more important, your family or your work?" exclaimed Aki.

"Being alive to be able to see my family again," answered Toshio. He stopped weaving for a moment. Rose could clearly see that he was upset. The last time she saw that expression from him, she informed him that Keiko was dead.

"It's terrible that he's remaining in power by making his subjects live in fear," said Odin. The Wind Warrior's statement brought Toshio out of his trance, and he started to weave again.

Sonny left out a yell o frustration. "We have to stop this. People shouldn't have to live in fear, and Lord Oromashi doesn't know any other way to run his country. We have to slay that dragon, no matter what."

Toshio stopped weaving and glared at the Fire Warrior. "No matter what," he repeated. "You're willing to throw away your lives on the slim chance of slaying that dragon. Do you really think that's what Keiko would have wanted? I highly doubt she thought about dying before she left on her quest to kill that dragon. Look where it got her. She's gone and she never once faced that dragon."

"It was Master's ambition to slay that dragon and free the people, and it won't be a slim chance that we slay the dragon either. Odin will figure out a way to kill it," replied Sonny angrily.

"Okay, say that you accomplish that. You can't just stop there. Lord Oromashi won't relinquish his command. To truly free the people, you'll have to assassinate the lord after you're done with his dragon," said Toshio, matching Sonny's level of anger.

The Element Warriors remained silent. They never considered taking the life of a human being, let alone the lord. All their focus has been on the dragon. Rose walked to the door, and Aki said, "Hey, where are you going?"

Rose turned to her and said, "I just need to get some air." She opened the door and left.

"That's a good way to be seen," stated Odin. Ignoring her sister's comment, Sonny checked the window and went after Rose.

"Rose," said Sonny. The Earth Warrior didn't reply. Sonny said, "Rose, talk to me."

Rose turned and looked at the Fire Warrior with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to kill somebody, Sonny. Just because he's a terrible ruler, doesn't mean it's right to end his life."

Sonny looked to the west at the setting sun. After a moment, she said, "It wasn't right for Lee Wong to end Master's life either."

"That's different, Sonny. Killing Master wasn't his intention," replied Rose. A tear rolled down her cheek as the Fire Warrior glanced at her. "Maybe so, but it still worked out that way," said Sonny. She paused before saying, "He did it out of cowardice, not to benefit Lord Oromashi. Killing the lord will serve to a higher purpose. We're not doing it for ourselves. We'll be doing it to return peace to Japan, to fulfill Master's wish."

"If that's what it takes to bring peace to the people, then I want no part of it," replied Rose.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you have to stop and consider what Toshio said. He'll have us executed for slaying his dragon, not to mention posing a threat to his reign. Lord Oromashi might not have his pet anymore, but that won't stop him from finding a terrible, painful way to kill us. Not to mention another way to keep the people afraid of him," said Sonny. She examined Rose's faces before saying, "You do plan on keeping your word to Master? After all, killing the dragon was the promise that we all made to her before she devoted her time to training us."

Rose looked away from Sonny and mumbled, "Of course."

"Alright then," stated the Fire Warrior. She looked back at Toshio's house. "We'd better get back before they start worrying about us."

Sonny led the way back, making sure to check the area so that no one was watching. Once inside, they found Toshio working that the other two warriors sitting on the floor. They sat down to join their sisters, and the Element Warriors began their conference.

"Okay, supposing everything Daisuke told us was correct, the dragon has fire breath and gold scales," said Odin. She huffed before saying, "We need to figure out a way around the gold scales. That's the real problem. Any ideas?"

"I don't know, Odin. Usually, that's your department," replied Sonny.

"What about diamond?"

The girls turned their attention to Toshio. "Diamonds?" asked Odin.

"Yeah, wouldn't that work?" said Toshio as he handled his machine. "Diamonds can cut glass, it should be able to deal damage against gold."

"He's right, but where would we get our hands on diamond. Especially diamond big enough to do efficient damage?" replied Odin.

"There's an earth manipulator who mastered the art of influencing gems like diamond. Her name is Ami Rakia. She made her won palace off the shore of the earth territories. She's been living in that palace, all alone for years," said Toshio.

"Everything is fitting into place then. We'll go to the palace, and Rose could be her student and learn the technique," said Odin.

"Yeah," said Rose, unexcited. She looked away from them all nervously.

The Element Warrior's spent the rest of the day telling Toshio of their adventures while he worked. When they went to bed, Rose couldn't manage to fall asleep. She tossed and turned several times until she saw a glowing light blue image near Toshio's weaving machine. Rose narrowed her eye lids to try and see what the glowing image was. When she recognized it, Rose couldn't believe it. Standing before her was Keiko Kurogane

_Okay, Rose. You know you're dreaming. You fell asleep without realizing it,_ Rose thought to herself. The Earth Warrior got to her feet. "Master?"

Keiko smiled. She looked around at the others in the room until her eyes came back o Rose. "I know something is troubling you, Rose. Please tell me what it is."

Rose looked at Sonny and back at Keiko. "I don't want to kill anyone, Master, even Lord Oromashi. It's wrong."

Keiko puzzled over Rose's words and said, "We all must do things that we find either difficult or wrong, Rose. I've done three things in my life that was difficult. I left my parents that I loved dearly to comfort my husband after he lost his parents. I then left him to free him from slavery, which was also wrong. According to our ways, my duty should have been to support my husband. Lastly, I had to tell you and your sisters that night that my death was approaching."

A tear rolled down Rose's cheek as she recalled the memory. Not wanting to sleep in fear of her master's life slipping away.

Keiko, seeing the tear, walked up to the Earth Warrior and embraced her in a hug. She whispered into her daughter's ear, "I'm not telling you to do it, and I'm not telling you not to. That's your choice. I just need you to promise me that you'll always be with your sisters, no matter what happens. They need you just as much as you need them."

Rose started to sob and said, "I promise, Master."

_This is definitely a dream_, thought Rose. _How could Master possibly know I was thinking of going out on my own? _

Keiko pulled herself away from Rose, but held the earth girl's shoulders in her hands. The ghost wiped away the tears on Rose's cheek and smiled. "Remember Rose, there are no limits to what you can do, but when the four of you are together, you're unstoppable. Now go to sleep."

With these last words, the light blue glowing silhouette disappeared. Rose blinked her eyes I disbelief and looked at the others. All of them were sleeping so Rose decided to lie down and fall asleep as well.

The next morning at the first sight of sunlight, Toshio was up and working as usual. Hearing the noise of the contraption, the Element Warriors except for Rose woke up shortly afterwards.

"That's unusual. Any other time, Aki is the one that _refuses_ to get up," replied Odin, observing Rose.

"Wow! Maybe we had a total change in personalities overnight," said Aki.

"Well that can't be possible. You're still saying stupid stuff instead of barely talking at all," said Sonny.

"You never know. Anything is possible," said Aki.

"Whatever. The only reason Rose is still sleeping is because she went to bed late last night," replied Sonny.

After a moment, Rose finally opened her beautiful brown eyes and looked up to see her sisters looking down at her. She smiled and raised herself up to a sitting position. "Were you waiting for me?"

"No, not really," said Aki as she sat down next to her earth sister. "It was cut watching you sleep." She leaned towards Rose and whispered, "If Sonny was the last one to wake up, I would have dumped some water on her."

Rose laughed, and Sonny said, "I can hear you, Aki. Try it and we'll see who has the last laugh."

"Oh, Sonny. You're just jealous because I'm adorable," replied Aki with a smile.

Sonny narrowed her eyebrows. "Don't kid yourself Aki. I only love you because I have to."

Aki pouted and said, "Now, Sonny. You're just saying that to hurt my feelings. You know you love me." Her pout quickly turned into a smile, and Aki said, "And it's because I'm adorable."

Sonny rolled her eyes. She turned her attention to Rose. "You want t take a walk with me?" asked Sonny.

"Sure," said Rose. Following Sony's lead, rose stood up and walked out the door with her fire sister.

After walking for ten minutes, the two of them stopped to rest near a rice field. Looking at the crops, Sonny said, "Do you think Master is with us?"

Rose stared at her sister in confusion. "Sonny, you and I both know Master is dead. She couldn't possibly be with us."

Looking directly at Rose, Sonny replied, "Then who were you talking to last night?"

The Earth Warrior looked away and said, "That was only a dream."

Turning her gaze back onto the rice field, Sonny said, "We just had the same dream then. Master looked beautiful and young again with the light blue glow around her." She looked at Rose to see the surprise in her sister's eyes. "Rose, it wasn't a dream."

"But how could that be possible?" asked Rose in disbelief.

Averting her eyes down towards the ground, Sonny said, "I don't know." Looking at the sun above the rice field in the sky, Sonny puzzled over the question. "She was dedicated to teaching us, helping and even caring for us. She must be doing the same as a spirit, aiding us when we need it the most."

"What do you mean, Sonny?" asked Rose, walking up to her sister to close the distance between them.

After a moment of silence, Sonny said, "Remember that time you were abducted by those two soldiers?"

"Yeah, I was hanging over a fire on a spit when you rescued me."

Another silent moment past before Sonny said, "At first, I had no hope of finding you. I found your torn cloth at the fruit tree, but I didn't see any footprints. In my moment of frustration, I heard Master's voice." Looking at Rose, Sonny continued. "Master told me to '_See the heat_.' Before that, I didn't even know that I could see the infer red radiation people left behind."

Looking at the rice field, Rose said, "So you know what Master came to say to me."

"What Master said was for you to hear," replied sonny.

"But you also heard, right?" asked Rose, looking into Sonny's eyes. Rose's stomach started to feel sick from her guilty conscience. Yesterday, she didn't truly want to abandon her sisters, just the responsibility that became acquired of her: to assassinate a human being.

Avoiding Rose's gaze by looking at the rice field, Sonny answered her sister's question, "Yes."

Tears formed and rolled down Rose's cheeks. "Are you mad at me?"

She looked at her earth sister with hurt confusion, Sonny said, "No. Why would I be?"

With her eyes looking down, Rose said, "Because I was thinking of leaving the group.

The fire girl waved her hand at Rose. "No. You'll only make me mad if you break your promise to Master." Rose returned the smile Sonny gave her. "Come on. Let's head back before Odin starts to worry," said Sonny.

As they made their way back, Rose said, "It's nice that we still have Master in some way."

"Yeah," replied Sonny. She checked to make sure nobody was looking, and opened the door for Rose.


	14. Twin Sword

_Twin Sword_

After spending the week with Toshio, the Element Warriors decided to move on with their quest.

"That's for stopping by," said Toshio as the girls made their way towards the door. As Odin put her hand on the door knob, Toshio said, "Oh wait. I have something for the four of you."

The girls watched as Toshio retrieved four folded kimonos from behind his weaving machine. The one he handed to Sonny was white with red fire patterns near the bottom of it an on the sleeves. The obi sash Toshio made for it was also red. The one handed to Rose was red with a brown rose petal pattern and a brown obi sash. Aki's kimono was blue with a white obi sash and bubble patterns. The kimono Toshio made for Odin was yellow with a light green wind pattern and a light green obi sash.

"Toshio, they're beautiful," exclaimed Rose.

"Odin stood where she was, observing the yellow fabric she was holding. Noticing, Toshio said, "I would have made it brown, but I ran out. Sorry Odin."

"No," replied Odin. "It's perfectly fine. Actually I love it."

"Aw, brown it shut down," said Aki. Odin blushed and tucked her folded kimono into her bag.

"Perhaps next time I should make you a brand new wardrobe of yellow," said Toshio.

Dropping the matter, Odin headed for the door and waited for her sisters. They put their treasured kimonos in their packs, thanked Toshio one more time, and left.

As they were traveling, Sonny said, "I wonder why Toshio went through the trouble of making us our own kimonos."

"They're wonderful gifts. Besides, to you want to go back and return it to Toshio?" asked Odin.

With the strap of her pack in her hand, Sonny pulled it to her chest and hugged tight. "No, I'm good." Odin smirked as they continued on in their journey.

When dusk arrived, the Element Warriors stopped to make camp. As they laid down to go to sleep, Sonny remained standing. "Maybe one of us should stay up to keep watch," said the Fire Warrior.

"What for? We've never had a lookout before," exclaimed Aki.

"Well, it's not a bad idea. You can stay up and keep watch if you want, Sonny," said Odin.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aki put her forearms under her head. "You're just staying up to prank me for what I said before, aren't you?" asked the water girl.

"What?" asked Sonny.

"When Rose woke up from sleeping in the other morning. I told her if you were the one sleeping in that I'd prank you," answered Aki.

Sonny shook her head in disbelief. "Whatever."

Within no time, the three girls were asleep while Sonny watched over them. Tonight was different from any other night, but Sonny didn't exactly know why. She could sense something; the Fire Warrior could feel it in the pit of her stomach.

She heard a twig snap and quickly looked in the direction of the sound. Defensively, Sonny formed fire around her hands. Calmly, she walked away from the campfire. After reaching a certain point, she stopped and looked around. When she saw nothing, Sonny huffed and let the fire around her hands disappear. She turned to return the campfire but stopped abruptly. She heard a branch snap from above, so the Fire Warrior quickly looked up.

The next course of events was a blur to Sonny. She fell to the ground under a large mass. The Fire Warrior gathered that it was a person after she felt multiple jabs in her side. Quickly trying to fight back, Sonny formed fire around her right hand. She lashed out, but the figure on top of her caught her wrist and pinned her arm down. The person used his knee to pin Sonny's right arm down. The strength in her limb weakening, the flames slowly died away.

In the darkness, Sonny heard a familiar voice. "This is for everything you've done to me, Fire Warrior.

From the little light the campfire provided her, she could see the man draw back his fist. Seconds before the knuckles collided with her face, the arm stopped abruptly. Looking to her left, sonny saw another figure. His arm was stretched out, preventing her enemy's attack.

"Get off of her," ordered Sonny's rescuer. Even without light, the Fire Warrior knew hatred was in Daisuke's eyes. He glared at the intruder. "Mind our own business. This is between me and her."

The hero decided not to argue. Daisuke's refusal was his sign to take action. He let go of Daisuke's arm and withdrew his sword. Sonny gasped as she saw the steel reflect the light from the campfire. Daisuke quickly got to his feet to defend himself against his opponent. Refusing to let the mystery man fight for her, Sonny kicked Daisuke's knee. He fell onto his back, and the Fire Warrior brought her heel down upon his chest like a bolt of lightning.

Getting herself up into a kneeling position, Sonny looked down at Daisuke as he groaned in pain. "Didn't I teach you your lesson the last time?"

"Shove it where the sun doesn't shine, Fire Warrior," replied Daisuke. Out of anger, Sonny slapped him across the cheek. "What is your problem? May I remind you that you're the one who tried to capture us? We're trying to free people. You're certainly not helping," said Sonny.

After he didn't say anything in return, Sonny stood up straight. "Get out. I don't ever want to see you again."

"He'll just come back to cause trouble. We should kill him," said the unknown man. He was leaning against a tree when Sonny faced him. With her anger evident in her voice, Sonny said, "_We're_ not going to do anything."

Recognizing his chance, Daisuke got to his feet and ran off into the night. Looking in the direction in which Daisuke fled, the man said, "You shouldn't have let him go. He would have killed you if I hadn't intervened."

"I don't want your advice, nor did I ask for your help," snapped Sonny. After looking at her sisters to see if they were still sleeping, she began to pace. Stopping suddenly, the fire girl looked at the man again. "Who are you anyway?"

Calmly observing the three girls sleeping around the fire, the man replied, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

"Don't play games with me," said Sonny, irritated.

Looking at her with his elegant blue eyes, he said, "What does it matter to you? You don't want my advice and didn't ask for my help, remember?"

Her temper was blazing. "Knock it off. I want an answer."

He gave her a once over and said, "Apologize."

"What? I'm not apologizing for anything."

"Then you don't need to know who I am," replied the man mockingly.

"Aagh," exclaimed Sonny in frustration. "Fine. Be stubborn for all I care."

"Fine," said the man. He lifted himself away from the tree and turned to walk away. With his back towards her, sonny got a good look at the sheath he kept his sword in. It was identical to her with the exception that his was red.

"Wait," called out Sonny. He stopped and turned around. He waited for her to say something. Feeling his blue gaze on her, the Fire Warrior felt her knees go weak. She shifted her weight to her other hip to gather herself together. Gritting her teeth, Sonny finally said, "I'm sorry."

As the man stepped closer to her, he said, "Well, that's better."

Clearly irritated, Sonny said, "So are you going to tell me your name now?"

"No."

"I can't believe this. You made me apologize for nothing," exclaimed Sonny.

The man ran his fingers through his well-kept black hair. "Well, if it's that important to you," said the man sarcastically, "you can call me White Swordsman." A smile spread across his lips. It quickly receded when Sonny asked, "Where did you get that sword?"

He turned and began to walk away.

"Hey," said Sonny. "I asked you a question." She ran after him, and when she put her hand on his shoulder, he immediately shrugged it off. "It's none of your concern," replied the White Swordsman.

"Yes it is. That sword belongs t a dead man," argued Sonny.

The White Swordsman stopped abruptly and turned to face her just as quickly. His blue eyes were blazing with anger. "Don't talk about him like that. You didn't even know him for that matter."

"Of course I didn't know him. Why would I want to know a person who killed innocent people?" yelled Sonny.

"He didn't kill innocent people. They were working for Lord Oromashi. They were handling his affairs."

"Do you really think they had a choice? Face it, he just killed people that were doing what they needed to do to stay alive," argued Sonny.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I don't. Well let's stop and analyze the situation shall we. If those people were running Lord Oromashi's affairs, why hasn't anything changed in the way that this country is being ruled?"

"My father wouldn't lie to me," said the White Swordsman.

Sonny was stunned.

"I saw those soldiers kill my father with my very own eyes."

"You're living in denial," replied Sonny.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," exclaimed Sonny. "He lied to you because he didn't want you to think any less f him."

Breaking their eye contact, the White Swordsman looked turned away from her. "Helping you was a waste of my time." He started to walk away again.

"Fine. Good riddance," yelled Sonny. She turned and walked towards the campfire. Once she reached it, the Fire Warrior laid down in the circle of girls around the fire. "Humph. Who needs that guy anyway?" Closing her eyes, she couldn't stop thinking about the White Swordsman, especially his blue eyes. The anger and pain he expressed through them.

_Aagh! Why am I thinking about that jerk?_ thought Sonny. She stared at the source of light and watched the flames until they suddenly vanished.


	15. Dying Revenge

_Dying Revenge_

The girls woke up at dawn, yawning and rubbing away the sleepiness from their eyes.

"Wow, getting up at dawn. We're around Toshio too much," said Aki.

"Where's Sonny?" asked Rose. They looked around the campsite, and Sonny was nowhere in sight. "I hope Sonny didn't stay up all night," replied Odin.

Rose stood still, the worry she was feeling was evident on her face. "Something's wrong."

Getting to her feet, Aki said, "Come on, Rose. You worry too much." She brushed the dirt away from her clothes. "Sonny can take care of herself. Besides, she's probably just trying to prank me."

Odin gave another look around. "No. Rose is right. This isn't like Sonny."

"What are we going to do, Odin?" asked Rose.

"The only thing to do," said Odin. She leaned down and picked up her bag. When she stood up, the wind sister said, "We have to find Sonny."

Just when the other two sisters grabbed their packs along with Sonny's bag and sword, they heard a branch break and rustling in a nearby tree. The Element Warriors withdrew their weapons and stood ready for an attack.

"Who's there? Show yourself," demanded Odin.

They heard a reply. "Where's the Fire Warrior?"

"I don't know. We could ask you the same. Now come out and show yourself," replied Odin.

Again, the man disobeyed her order. The Element Warriors heard the person jumping from tree to tree. Once he was gone, Aki asked, "What was that about?"

Staring in the direction the man fled, Odin said, "I'm not sure, Aki. We have more important things to worry about."

"Aagh! How dare she talk about my father like that," exclaimed the White Swordsman. After his argument with Sonny, he walked until he came to the shore of a stream. Frustrated, he was picking up stones anywhere he could find them and skimmed them across the water. "She knows nothing about my father."

He walked along the shore, continuing his ranting until he came across a beautiful sakura blossom tree. Right in front of it was the rose that was one of the biggest topics of gossip around Japan; the one known as the Element Warriors' trademark. The White Swordsman knelt down in front of it to admire the beauty of it. In the light of the full moon, it seemed like the tree and rose had a light blue aura around them. After a moment, he examined the ground around him more closely. The ground he was kneeling on was a different shade them the rest of the dirt. The White Swordsman also noticed that it was in a rectangular shape.

Surprised, he quickly backed away off of what he knew now was a grave.

"So you've lost someone too, Fire Warrior."

He found a place to rest and decided to let go of his anger. The next morning, he left to go see the Fire Warrior. The White Swordsman wasn't entirely sure why or what he'd say to her, but he planned on figuring that out when he confronted her.

When he reached the campsite, the Element Warriors were still asleep. Quickly, he climbed a tree to see them better. When he obtained a full view, he was disappointed to see that the Fire warrior wasn't there. What was left was her bag and sword.

Her sword! He never even noticed it the night before. It was identical to his except for the sheath color.

_How could that be possible?_ the White Swordsman thought to himself. He didn't have much more time to think about it because the three girls woke up once the light of dawn hit them.

By listening to their conversation, it was obvious t him that they were worried about the Fire Warrior. When they gathered their things, his foot slipped and broke a branch. He was situating himself in the tree when he heard the Wind Warrior shout, "Who's there? Show yourself."

He looked up at the girls and saw that they had their weapons ready to pulverize him. Instead of answering her question and doing what the girl commanded, the White Swordsman remained in the tree and said, "Where's the Fire Warrior?"

Odin replied, "I don't know. We could ask you the same. Now come out and show yourself."

The White Swordsman knew that Odin and the others weren't fooling around. Even with the threat of being whipped, blasted, or struck by an arrow, it didn't matter to him. His main concern was the Fire Warrior. He knew something was wrong, so he wasn't going to waste any more time here.

He started jumping from tree to tree, avoiding the three warriors' line of sight.

It was around noon when Sonny opened her eyes. Her wrists were bound in chains that wrapped around two trees. Daisuke was kneeling near a fire, turning a rabbit on a spit over a fire. When he noticed that Sonny was conscious, he said, "Hungry?"

The Fire Warrior couldn't breathe through her nose, so she figured he broke it the night before when he kidnapped her. "What do you want?"

"Oh, come on now, Sonny. You even rob me the pleasure of denying you delicious meat," replied Daisuke. He looked up and smiled, happy with the bruises he left behind on her face.

When Sonny said nothing, he stopped turning the rabbit and stood up. Daisuke walked over to her and said, "Isn't it simple enough, Sonny. I want to make you suffer the for what you've done to me."

Daisuke slapped her across the face. "You know exactly what you did. First you made a fool of me, and then this…" He pulled open his obi belt and took off his uwagi. Scares were evident where his blisters used to be, and his skin was still pealing.

"Hey, you're the one who grabbed me from behind, not to mention that you hurt my sister. You have nobody to blame except for yourself," remarked Sonny.

Angry, Daisuke slapped her again. After taking a deep breath, Daisuke put his uwagi back on and secured it with his obi belt. He held his hand out and created an ember above his palm.

"What are you going to do with that?" asked Sonny nervously.

"I told you I was going to make you suffer," replied Daisuke maliciously.

The Fire Warrior tugged and pulled on the chains to no avail. Satisfied to see Sonny struggling, Daisuke put the flame against the bicep of her arm. The cloth of her white uwagi burned at the spot, and the ember danced against her skin.

Daisuke was annoyed when the Fire Warrior didn't cry out in pain. Instead, the longer the ember was in contact with her ski, the better her appearance became. Sonny was able to breathe through her nose again, and the bruises on her face cleared up.

"No way," exclaimed Daisuke. He pulled his hand away in disbelief. His expression turned ugly again. "Don't think you're off the hook, Sonny. I'll find a way to hurt you."

He turned around to see a man in a white uniform was eating his lunch. The White Swordsman looked up and said, "Oh, is this yours?" He put the spit back over the fire and faced Daisuke.

Furious, Daisuke threw a fire punch at the man. The white Swordsman quickly dodged it and withdrew his blade. Daisuke threw two more fire punches, which met their fate by the man's sword. When the White Swordsman reached his opponent, he sliced off Daisuke's right hand before the vengeful man could react.

Daisuke grabbed at his stump with the other hand and yelled in pain. The White Swordsman held out the tip of his sword in Daisuke's face. "If you were any other man, I'd be happy to ease your passing. Not you. You can die slowly, just like a man who lied to me years ago," said the White Swordsman.

With a swing from his sword, he removed Daisuke's entire left arm. The White Swordsman left him to wraith in pain. He looked at Sonny right in the eyes before ripping off the damaged sleeve of her uwagi. As he used it to wipe off the blood on his sword, Sonny said, "Why did you come?"

The White Swordsman tossed the bloody sleeve aside, and he said, "Because." He broke the chain binding the Fire Warrior's right arm. "Because why?" asked Sonny angrily. With a smile and much sarcasm, the White Swordsman said, "I like being insulted by damsels in distress."

He broke the other chain and put his sword back into its sheath. The man watched as Sonny pulled her hands through the handcuffs still around her wrist. "Where did you get your sword?" asked the White Swordsman.

Sonny looked at Daisuke and didn't answer. His breathing was shallow and appeared very weak. After a minute, his breathing stopped all together. Sonny knelt down at his body and closed his eyes.

"You didn't have to kill him," said Sonny.

"Yes I did. Look at what happened when you didn't kill him last night. He kidnapped you and our companions are worried sick."

The Fire Warrior stood up and started to walk away. The White Swordsman was hot on her heels. "You didn't answer my question?"

Without looking at him, Sonny calmly replied, "The same man who forged the sword you wield."

After a while of walking in silence, the White Swordsman finally said, "What is your problem? I didn't have to come after you. You should be grateful, Fire Warrior."

"Grateful! You killed a man, and you expect me to be grateful," replied Sonny angrily.

"I stopped him from killing you, that's what you should be considering. Don't get mad at me for doing something that you couldn't bring yourself to do," yelled the White Swordsman.

Sonny stopped in her tracks and the White Swordsman had to turn around in order to face her.

With a tear in her eye, Sonny said, "How did you kill the last man that lied to you? I saw the look on your face when you sliced off Daisuke's arm. You could have killed him, but you made him suffer."

Avoiding eye contact with her, the White Swordsman said, "I never said I killed my father." He paused a moment before continuing, "I don't expect you to understand." He glanced at Sonny and saw the empathy in her eyes. Looking away again, he said, "You better go find your friends. They're most likely looking all over for you."

He started walking away, and Sonny nervously ran her bottom lip through her teeth as she watched him leave. Before the White Swordsman was out of sight, she yelled to him, "Thank you."

Without turning or stopping, the White Swordsman waved his hand in acknowledgement to her gratitude.

After an hour of walking around, Sonny heard three familiar voices call out her name. She ran in their direction until she caught sight of them. The Fire Warrior leaned against a tree and smiled at her sisters. "Aren't you concerned about drawing attention to yourselves?" asked Sonny. With much surprise and relief, they immediately looked at her.

"Sonny," yelled Aki, excited. She ran to her fire sister and practically knocked her to the ground when she embraced her in a hug. "We've missed you so much. Where have you been?" exclaimed the Water Warrior.

"Ew, Aki. Stop kissing me. It doesn't look right," said Sonny as she tried to push her sister away.

"I don't care. You're my sister, and I love you," replied Aki. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.

"Okay. That's enough, Aki. Let her go," said Odin.

With a sign of disappointment, Aki let Sonny go. The Fire Warrior brushed herself off and wiped her face with the sleeve she still had.

"What happened, Sonny?" asked Rose, concerned.

"Well, last night, I thought I heard a noise. I walked out of the light, and I followed the sound until I discovered that it was a rabbit. Afterwards, I realized I was lost and panicked. My sleeve must have gotten caught on a tree and tore off," said Sonny. Even though honesty was important, she didn't want them to know what happened.

This time, Rose was the one to trap Sonny in a hug. "I'm just so glad you're okay, Sonny."

Blushing, Sonny cleared her throat. "Um, perhaps it's time we get going. The Gem Palace isn't going t appear out of thin air."

Rose let go and they began to make their way towards the bridge. As they walked, Odin said, "Sonny, did you meet some guy when you were lost?"

Instantly, Sonny's skin was coated with perspiration. "No, why?"

"Oh, can I tell her?" asked Aki excitedly. Odin shrugged with indifference, and Aki said, "After we got ready to go looking for you, we heard some guy in a tree. He asked where you were. Then he left."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. He didn't try to hurt us or anything," said Odin.

As they continued to walk, Odin hung back with Sonny to talk with her. "Sonny, I don't know why you're lying. If you won't tell me the truth, at least tell me why."

Sonny wasn't surprised. "You're still living up to your name, Odin." The Wind Warrior didn't seemed phased, so Sonny continued, "I just can't bring myself to tell you what actually happened, Odin. I don't want you to know about it, and I just want to forget it."

Odin's expression didn't show confusion or anger. She said, "I understand." As she began to walk ahead of Sonny, her fire sister grabbed her arm. "What is it, Sonny?"

After a moment of rethinking her question, Sonny asked, "Do you think we can kill Lord Oromashi?"

"Well, given the fact that he forbids element influencing because he fears that kid of power, we will have a good chance," answered Odin.

"I'm confident in that perspective," stated Sonny.

"Then what?" asked Odin.

"Can we bring ourselves to do it?"

"Are you referring to Rose?" asked Odin.

"All of us."

Odin thought it over for a moment. "We'll know when the time comes."

"We should know now," replied Sonny.

"Patience."

Annoyed, Sonny said, "Is this one of those wind mind games?"

Odin patted Sonny's shoulder with a smile. "You know me very well."


	16. Elemental Energy

_Elemental Energy_

After another hour was spent traveling, the Element Warriors found the bridge joining the two main islands. Rose stopped short from everybody else.

"What is it, Rose?" asked Sonny.

"Nothing. It's just that I'm overwhelmed," replied Rose.

"Why? We're just going back into the wind territory," said Odin.

"This is the place we fought for the first time. Where we put Master's teachings to work," stated Rose.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I was like, bam, can't hit me," said Aki excitedly.

Rose giggled, and Sonny rolled her eyes. After a moment, Odin finally said, "Come on now. The bridge isn't going to waltz its way over here."

"Wow! Wouldn't that be awesome if it did? A dancing bridge," exclaimed Aki. She held out her right hand and pretended she had her left hand over someone's shoulder. The water girl began twirling around and making noises to sound like Beethoven's "Moonlight."

The Earth Warrior giggled even more, and Sonny huffed with irritation. "Aki, stop messing around," said Sonny.

"Shut up, Sonny. You're going to make me lose my tempo. Wait," said Aki. She stopped twirling for a moment and looked around. "I lost it."

"What? Your tempo?" asked Rose.

"No," answered Aki, dropping her hands to her sides. "My vision of the dancing bridge went away. He had to be the best dancer ever. He didn't step on my toes once."

"Can we go now?" asked Sonny.

"What? Don't you want to dance with the bridge too, Sonny?" asked Aki.

"W-Wh-What?" stammered Sonny. "You said he went away."

"He might come back because he thinks you're hotter than me," replied Aki.

Sonny shook her head. "I can't believe we're even talking about this. That stupid dancing bridge is just a figment of your imagination." Aki laughed, and Rose tried to hide her smile with her hand.

"Aw, Odin. This is all your fault," exclaimed Sonny.

"My fault! Why is it my fault?" asked Odin, surprised.

"You just had t say about the bridge waltzing over here," said Sonny.

"Oh, yes. It's entirely my fault then," said Odin calmly. She started walking to the bridge, and her sisters followed closely behind her. "Odin, it's no fun when you agree right away," said Sonny.

"So you wanted me to deny it?" asked Odin.

"Sort of."

"Then it's not my fault," said Odin.

"Too late. You already admitted it," replied Sonny. Odin looked at her fire sister and returned the smile.

When they reached the bridge, no soldiers were on guard. "Huh. They must be on break or something," said Aki. Odin quickly held out her arm and stopped the Water Warrior. "Wait. Something's not right," said the Wind Warrior.

After a moment of examining the bridge, Odin said, "Rose, make a boulder and roll it onto the bridge."

"Um, okay." Rose formed a boulder and rolled it across the bridge. After moving a meter, spikes came up through the boards of the bridge. "Oh no. It's booby trapped," cried Rose.

Aki was fighting her laughter, and Sonny rammed her elbow into the water girl's side.

"Well, Aki. It looks like we're going to have to cross on the water again," said Odin.

"No. I told you I was going to do that that one time," replied Aki.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aki. We're not avoiding a fight or something," exclaimed Sonny. Aki crossed her arms and looked stubbornly away. "No."

The Fire Warrior let out a breath of air. "Fine. Then you can be our guinea pig." Aki's eyes opened wider. "Guinea pig?"

"Yeah, guinea pig. You can go first, so we can avoid the traps," replied Sonny. Dumbly, Aki looked at Odin. "Would you really allow that?" asked the Water Warrior. Odin shrugged her shoulders and said, "It sounds reasonable enough."

Aki gulped and walked to the bridge. She balled her hands into fists and held her breath as she took one step onto the bridge. When nothing happened, she exhaled.

"Wow, Aki. And you thought this was a bad idea," said Sonny teasingly.

"Hey, why don't you e the guinea pig?" yelled Aki. She took another step on the bridge and heard a click. She instantly froze in place. The next thing she knew, Sonny's arms were wrapped around her waist. The Fire Warrior pulled Aki back before she was hit by a fire blast that was launched from the railing of the bridge.

"That's it, no more messing around. We're going to take the water way," yelled Sonny.

Before Aki could protest, Sonny got to her feet, pulled Aki off the ground, and threw the water girl over her shoulder. Aki started kicking and screaming. "Sonny… um… um… Kurogane! Put me down right this minute!"

"Sonny Kurogane. Hm, that has a nice ring to it, Aki. I wouldn't advertise that in front of people. It will probably get our good friends in trouble," said Sonny.

"Sonny, this isn't funny. Put me down right now!"

The Fire Warrior stopped and let Aki fall onto her rear end near the water.

"Ouch. You didn't have to be so rough, Sonny," said Ai as she rubbed her bottom.

"What do you expect when you're barking orders at me? You were making me nervous," replied Sonny sarcastically. Aki wrinkled her nose at her fire sister. The Fire Warrior huffed and said, "If you butt hurts that bad, get into the water."

"What good will that do?" asked Aki.

"Just trust me. I have a hunch," answered Sonny.

"Okay," said Aki. She got to her feet and walked into the water until it was level with her knees. "Wow!"

"What is it Aki?" asked Rose, concerned.

"My butt doesn't hurt anymore," exclaimed Aki.

"Wonderful, Aki. I wanted to hear a butt report today," replied Sonny sarcastically. The Water Warrior ignored her sister's statement and walked back onto the shore. "How did that happen?" asked Aki.

Odin smacked her forehead and said, "Of course. It makes perfect sense." The others stared at her and waited for her explanation. Odin cleared her throat and continued, "We were created from Master's elemental energy. When we come into contact with the element we were created from without generating it ourselves, it restores our energy. That's why Rose and I recover from a fight faster than you two. We're in constant contact with earth and wind."

"Well, that's no fair," exclaimed Aki.

"What happens when we come into contact with an opposite element?" asked Rose. Odin puzzled over the question. "I'm not sure."

"I don't think anything will really happen," replied Sonny. She looked at Rose reassuringly. "I've come into contact with water before and nothing bad happened to me."

"Well, maybe you might not have been in contact with water long enough for it to have a bad effect on you," said Odin. Sonny looked around and said, "Well, we can test it now." She turned and started walking towards the water.

"No, Sonny!" Rose ran, grabbed the fire girl's arm, and hugged tight. "Don't do it, Sonny."

"Don't worry, Rose. I'll be fine. I'm sure of it," replied Sonny with a confident smile. For a moment, Rose stared into her sister's identical eyes. Feeling defeat, the Earth Warrior let go of Sonny. The Fire Warrior walked into the water until it was u to her knees. She turned around and watched her sister's as she waited.

After a minute passed, Sonny said, "You know, it just occurred to me. Earth's weakness should be wind. Nothing happens to Rose."

"Yes, but she's always in contact with her element. It can counter any effects the wind might cause," replied Odin.

"Oh," said Sonny, disappointed. She was bored just standing there waiting for nothing to happen. After another minute, Sonny said, "What about Aki and you?"

"I don't think Aki has anything to worry about. My concern should be fire, the combustion should wear me out," answered Odin.

"Yay! I don't have a weakness," exclaimed Aki. After ten more minutes, Sonny said, "Satisfied?"

"Yes," replied Odin. Sonny walked out of the water. "Now let's go. We've wasted enough time," said the Fire Warrior. With a nod from Odin, Aki formed her sheet of ice. The Element warriors got on board, and Aki maneuvered the current.

After a while, Sonny laid down and made herself comfortable while the others remained sitting. It was long after that when Aki became bored. "Rose, check this out." With the motion of the hand, she wasn't using to control the current, she made a dragon head and some of its thin serpent-like body emerge from the water.

Rose applauded with much enthusiasm. Odin merely smiled at her sister's carefree actions, while Sonny wasn't even interested. Aki continued to make her precious water dragon swim. Annoyed with Sonny's lack of attention, Aki made the dragon sneak behind the Fire Warrior. The blue dragon shot into the air, and came crashing down onto Sonny.

"That's not cool, Aki," exclaimed Sonny, shivering.

"All the evidence to the contrary," said Aki in between her laughs. Once her laughter died down, Aki formed her water dragon to amuse herself. Sonny sat down and observed Aki's technique. "Why did you choose a dragon, Aki?" asked Sonny.

"I don't know, I just think they're awesome. I'm not going to let Lord Oromashi's pet be a total kill joy," answered Aki.

Sonny smiled at her sister's attitude and choice of words. The Fire Warrior returned to her relaxing position, ignoring her soaked clothes. Aki looked over her shoulder and was content to see her fire sister smiling.

Throughout the day, Aki made her water dragon do tricks while the others watched. They didn't reach the wind territory when the sun set, but they could see the land.

Sonny sat up and looked to the west. "How much longer do you think it will take, Aki?" asked the Fire Warrior.

"Oh, maybe ten minutes. Why? Are you okay?" replied Aki.

"Yeah," said Sonny. "I'm just tired."

"That will teach you to stay up all night and get yourself lost," exclaimed Odin. Sonny wasn't in the mood to argue. In fact, she didn't feel like doing anything because of how drained she felt.

After eight more minutes, Sonny blacked out. What came to her sight was the White Swordsman. The Fire Warrior could see his amazing blue eyes, his slim figure, and his well-kept black hair. His sword was in one hand while he held a white rose in the other. The rose especially stood out since the thorns dug into his palm and drew out blood.

"White Swordsman, you're bleeding," said Sonny. She reached out to his, but he merely smiled at her. The White Swordsman brought the rose up to his nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance.

"Sonny! Sonny!"

The Fire Warrior opened her eyes and discovered that Odin was shaking her frantically. Relieved, Odin let out a breath. "I'm so sorry, Sonny. I never even thought about the sun."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sonny, groggy.

"Sonny, you passed out," replied Rose, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"I did?"

"Duh, yeah," replied Aki. "Odin freaked out, and Rose totally panicked. She was crying and everything."

Sonny looked at her earth sister and saw the tear marks on Rose's cheeks. The fire girl turned her attention back to Aki. "I assume you were laughing your butt off the whole time."

"Yep, pretty much," replied Aki with a smile.

"That's not the way I remember it," stated Odin.

"Yeah. You were rushing the water current because you were scared you killed Sonny," exclaimed Rose. "You kept asking if she was okay non-stop." Aki laughed dumbly and scratched her head. "Gee, I don't remember that."

"Sure you don't," said Sonny, getting to her feet. Once up, she would have fallen over if Odin didn't catch her. "We need to make you a fire," said the Wind Warrior.

Aki and Rose ran off to the nearby woods. Sonny walked with Odin as her support. "Stop worrying about me. I'm going to be fine," said Sonny.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sonny. You're our sister. It's our job to worry about you."

"I know, but it doesn't make me too comfortable," replied the Fire Warrior.

"Oh, suck up your pride, Sonny."

The Fire Warrior remained silent, remembering the last time she swallowed her pride. _Why did I do that? He's practically a total stranger? _thought Sonny. Thinking of him, she remembered her dream and started to worry. "Odin, did I say anything while I was passed out?"

"Now that you mention it, you did mumble something. None of us could figure out what it was. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," replied Sonny.

Looking ahead, the two girls saw a fire. "Aki and Rose must have started a fire. Come on," said Odin. They picked up the pace. When they reached the fire, nobody was around.

"Hm, that's strange," said Odin. She shook her head and said, "Never mind. Just get to the fire." She led Sonny to the campfire and set the Fire Warrior down. Sonny put her sleeveless arm into the flames and immediately started to recover her energy. By the time she was satisfied, Rose and Aki approached the campsite. They both had firewood in their arms and put it down in a pile.

"Really, Odin? If you were going to make a fire for Sonny yourself, we would have saved our tie gathering wood," said Aki.

"So you didn't start this fire?" asked Odin.

Aki held a confused expression on her face. "You mean you didn't start it either?" The wind girl shook her head. Looking at the fire, Odin said, "Maybe we should move on before the person who did build it comes back."

After holding her palms to the fire, Sonny pulled them away and said, "I don't think we have to worry about that, Odin." She aid down on the belly and faced the woods. Among the shadows in the trees, the Fire Warrior saw a silhouette. After a moment, he ran off into the distance. Sonny smiled and closed her eyes. There was no mistaking those blue irises staring back at her.

"Are you sure, Sonny?" asked Rose. She didn't receive an answer because her fire sister was fast asleep.


	17. Temple of Peace

_Temple of Peace_

The next morning everyone woke up at dawn. Everyone except Aki, that is. She remained in her spot around the campfire, snoring nosily. Sonny knelt down at the Water Warrior and stared at her.

"What are you going to do, Sonny," asked Odin seriously.

"Hey, it's only fair. She'd do it if I was the one sleeping," replied the Fire Warrior. She returned her attention to Aki. "Wake up, Aki," said Sonny. She poked the Water warriors arm a couple times, but Aki remained asleep. "Your terrible snoring attracted soldiers' attention. Get up and fight, Aki-chan," said Sonny.

The water girl's reaction was the best Sonny could have ever hoped for. Aki stopped snoring and clenched her fists. She started moving her arms around as if she was fighting. "That's right! Go run home to your mommy," said Aki.

Sonny quickly covered her mouth with her hands to prevent her laughter. It became too difficult for the Fire Warrior when Aki continued to swing her arms about. They hysterical laughter finally caused the Water Warrior to open her eyes. She looked at her fire sister in confusion as Sonny clutched her stomach and laughed whole-heartedly.

"What's so funny?" asked Aki. When Sonny didn't laugh due to her laughing, Aki looked at her other sisters. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing," said Rose with a smile. She handed Aki an earth bowl full of peanuts and berries. The earth girl walked over to Sonny and handed her the breakfast. Sonny's laughter subsided, and she accepted what her earth sister offered her.

Choosing to let the matter drop for the moment, Aki ate her food and observed Sonny very closely. The whole time, the Fire Warrior kept smiling and focused on her food. After they were done, they grabbed their tings and continued the journey. Everything was normal except the fact that Aki's eyes didn't leave Sonny for a minute. It was around noon when they stopped to take a break.

Sonny sat down and let out a sigh of relief. She took one of her uwabaki off and massaged her foot. "My feet are killing me."

"Sh."

"What, Odin? I was just…"

"Sonny, be quiet. I hear something," replied Odin.

The four girls remained silent, listening to an man humming from the distance. Sonny put her uwabaki back on and got to her feet. Aki went to withdraw her tonfa blasters, but Odin said, "Wait, Aki. He might not be a soldier."

Aki huffed and followed her sisters towards the source of the humming. They found a bald man, wearing an indigo samue, and collecting apples frm a tree.

"Hello," greeted Odin. The man spun around to face them. A smile spread across his face and he said, "Hello." He bowed and continued to say, "May I help you ladies?"

"Um, we're sorry to disturb you. We just heard you humming," said Rose, her checks turning red.

He eyed the girls curiously. "You girls look very familiar. Would you happen to be the element Warriors that are traveling around Japan?"

Odin hesitated. She was uncertain how to approach this angle. If they denied the truth, the man would most likely discover their lie later down the road. On the other hand, this stranger wasn't entirely a threat, so there wouldn't be much harm in letting the man know who they are. There was of course the chance that this was a trap. A peaceful man, humming alone in the forest would be a good decoy to lure vigilantes. Odin weighed her options and made her decision. "Yes, sir."

"It's an honor to meet you," replied the man, bowing to them again. "My name is Krillin. Please come with me. My brothers would be most happy to meet you." Keeping his collection of apples, Krillin started walking away, and motioned for the girls to follow him. The Element Warriors did so, but made sure to have some distance between them.

"Odin, we should be careful. This could be a trap. Who knows how many brothers this guy has? They might not even be his brothers. He could be leading us to an army of soldiers," whispered Sonny.

"I've considered that. If it's a trap, we'll just figure a way out of it," replied Odin.

"I love your thinking process, Odin," stated the Fire Warrior. "Take a chance of stumbling into trouble, then find a way out. Has it ever occurred to you to stay out of danger, period?" Odin broke eye contact with Sonny and remained silent.

"Well, I like him. He seems nice and polite," commented Rose.

The conversation stopped when the girls caught a sight of a huge building surrounded by a wall. "Wow," exclaimed Aki.

"Ladies, this is our temple," said Krillin. Aki leaned towards Odin. "Psst. What's a temple?"

"I don't know, Aki. This is the first time I've heard of such a thing," replied Odin.

"What? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one," said Aki. Odin gave her water sister a dirty look before they accepted the invitation into the temple grounds.

As Krillin guided them through the grounds, the Element Warriors saw many other men like their tour guide. They were wearing identical samue and were laboring over crops.

"So all these guys are your brothers? Wow. Your mother must have been Wonder Woman," said Aki.

Krillin chuckled and said, "No. We're monks. Here, we dedicate our lives to the Buddhist religion."

At the end of their tour, Krillin led them to a man, and Krillin bowed to him. Odin assumed that it would be custom to bow before this particular monk, so she nudged her sisters and signaled them to bow.

"Shifu Koaru, these women are the Element Warriors," said Krillin. Shifu Koaru smiled and bowed to the girls. "Welcome, Element Warriors. It's an honor to have your presence at our temple." He faced his fellow monk and said, "Krillin, please take our guests to a room. I'm sure they're tired from traveling."

Krillin bowed and turned to lead the Element Warriors to the guest house. Sonny and Rose shared one room, while Aki and Odin had another together. Krillin bowed before he left them.

Odin dropped her bag to the floor, propped her bow against the wall, and sat down on her futon. Aki laid down on the other futon and relaxed. A minute later, Sonny and Rose entered their quarters.

"What do you think of this place, Odin," asked Rose.

"It seems nice enough," answered Odin, trying to relax.

"I'm curious as to why they're so honored to have us here. We're fighting people, and Krillin was all too happy to escort us to their sacred temple," said Sonny.

"Maybe they think we're heroes," replied Aki. She smiled and stretched out on her futon. "I say I'm ready to be spoiled." Odin ignored Aki's comment. She thought a moment before saying, "It's worth looking into."

Later that evening, Krillin came to invite the Element Warriors to dinner. Following his led, they joined the rest of the monks. Shifu Koaru smiled as Krillin and the girls approached him. "Ladies, please sit down and eat." The Element Warriors were apprehensive, yet they complied to the man's request. Krillin bowed and left to eat his meal with his fellow monks.

Before eating a mouthful of noodles, Aki said, "Why are we so respected here, Shifu Koaru? Is it because you think we're amazing?"

Shifu Koaru chuckled at the Water Warrior. "We've heard from an old friend about the four of you."

"You heard from an old friend?" asked Odin. Shifu Koaru smiled and observed the Wind Warrior's puzzled expression. "He has sent letters to us. In one of them, he mentioned meeting four inspirational women that desire to bring peace. He informed us that you'll risk your lives to face the lord's dragon."

Odin stopped eating to think it over. Not many people knew their plans for bringing peace. Seeing her puzzled expression, Shifu Koaru said, "He sends his letters to us in his tea shipments." A light bulb went on inside Odin's head. "Uncle Kagen!"

"Wow. Uncle Kagen knows everybody, doesn't he?" exclaimed Aki. Shifu Koaru sipped some tea before saying, "We met Kagen Kurogane a long time ago; years before Lord Oromashi assumed control of Japan. A monk left the temple in search of a fruit tree, like Krillin did this morning. The monk was lost for several days until Kagen came to his aid. Kagen shared his supplies with the monk, and he helped our brother fiend the temple. He left a huge impression here, and anybody worthy of Kagen Kurogane's respect is undoubtedly welcome here."

The Element Warriors smiled. They spent the rest of the time discussing Uncle Kagen. After dinner, they returned to their rooms.

Aki laid down on her futon and stretched out to relax herself. "Wow, the things Uncle Kagen hasn't told us about himself."

Getting into her futon, Odin said, "Well, Aki. I guess there will always be things you don't know about a person. That isn't entirely a bad thing."

"Yeah," replied Aki. She suddenly lifted up her head. "Wait a minute. What don't I know about you?"

"What?" asked Odin.

"You just said that there will always be something you don't know about a person. So what don't I know about you?" said Aki.

Odin huffed as she thought over the matter. "I've never truly been the same since Ryou Yamamoto rescued us."

Aki narrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"I let that fake led us into that trap," replied Odin.

"Yeah, but you realized it before it was too late," countered Aki.

"If Mr. Yamamoto hadn't been there to save us, we would have been captured and executed."

"That isn't it either, Aki. The incident with Daisuke made it worse," said Odin.

"Can you really blame yourself? He wasn't that bad looking. Rose and I were even fooled," replied Aki with a laugh. Odin huffed and didn't say anything in response. "Aw, come on, Odin. You can't feel guilty over that. People make mistakes. You're not perfect."

Silence fell between them. Feeling uncomfortable, Aki lifted herself off of the futon and crawled into it. Peeking at Odin, Aki said, "You shouldn't let it bother you, Odin. None of us hold it against you."

After a pause, the Wind Warrior said, "I know you don't, but that's not the problem of my issue."

"Then what is the problem? That's the thing I really don't understand," replied Aki, propping herself up on her elbows.

"The thought of making another mistake, one that will land us in danger.

Aki thought it over before saying, "You won't." Odin also propped herself on her elbows. "How would you possibly know that?"

"I know because we have faith in you. Not just Sonny and Rose, but Master did too. You gotten us this far, we know you'll take us all the way." After an uncomfortable silence, the Water Warrior cleared her throat and said, "Now stop doubting yourself, or I'm going to tell Sonny. We'll smack some sense into you yet."

She rolled over in her futon and remained still for a few minutes. Finally, Aki said, "Odin."

"What?"

"What was so funny this morning?" asked Aki.

Odin let out a laugh and said, "I don't remember." Aki rolled over again and said, "Sure you don't." A minute passed, and the Water Warrior fell asleep.

Odin turned her attention to the only window in the room. The moonlight was shining through with a beautiful light blue glow.

_Aki's right_, said a voice in the Wind Warrior's mind. _Your sisters need and believe in you. You need to be strong for them. _A frown came to the Odin's lips. "How do I convince myself of that?"

Smoke?

Rose opened her eyes as she breathed smoke in through her nostrils. She got up and ran over to Sonny. She shook her fire sister awake.

Still groggy, Sonny said, "Rose, what is it?"

"Sonny, I think this place is on fire."

The Fire Warrior's eyes flew open, and she grabbed for her sword. "Rose, get your things together. I'm going to get Odin and Aki."

"But what should I do?" asked Rose, panicked.

"Just meet us outside," commanded Sonny. She ran out the door into the hallway, and she headed to her sisters' room.

Rose grabbed her bag and whip. When she ran into the hallway, she saw that flames were flocking the exit. The Earth Warrior looked around, but she didn't see any of her sisters. She turned to the window of her room but didn't move towards it.

_I just need you to promise me that you'll always be with your sisters, not matter what happens_, ran through her mind.

"Do you see Rose anywhere?" asked Sonny. Moments after the three warriors escaped from the bedroom window, the warriors of wind, water, and fire frantically searched for their missing sister.

"No," answered Odin, clearly upset.

"See must still be inside," exclaimed Shifu Koaru.

Off in the distance, catapults were lined up and another ball of fire was sent flying towards the temple. Odin and some of the monks used their wind abilities to slow the projectile down. Aki created water to extinguish the fire, and it was reduced to burnt rubble. Sonny made a run for the guest house.

"Sonny, wait. I'll come with you," yelled Aki.

The Fire Warrior quickly stopped and said, "No, Aki. You're needed here. You are the only water manipulator who can put out the fire to prevent further damage to the temple." Sonny quickly bolted in through the window of Odin and Aki's room. She held up her sleeve to cover her mouth as she made her way back into the hall. Not far from her, Rose was lying unconscious on the floor. As the Fire Warrior walked to her sister, she heard a crackle and was tackled from behind. Wood from the ceiling crashed to the floor in flames where Sonny was previously standing. She rolled over to see a familiar white outfit.

"White Swordsman," exclaimed Sonny.

He got up and pulled her to her feet. The White Swordsman walked over to Rose and picked her up into his arms. "Come on, Fire Warrior. Let's get out of here." Moving forward, the two of them ran into the room Sonny and Rose occupied before the blaze started. A pile of burning wood was blocking the window.

"Now what?" asked the White Swordsman.

"Hold on," said Sonny. Using her hands, she gathered the flames from the room into a sphere. Throwing the ball of flames at the wall, it caused an exploding, leaving a gap for them to escape. They ran out, and the White Swordsman placed Rose safely on the ground. Shifu Koaru rushed to their aid. He tilted Rose's head back and leaned close to her mouth.

"She's breathing. Rose-chan most likely past out from inhaling the combustion from the fire," said Shifu Koaru.

Sonny knelt down beside her sister and shook Rose awake.

"Sonny?"

"Rose, what in the world were you thinking? I told you to get out," said Sonny angrily.

"I didn't want to get out of the fire without the rest of you," replied Rose with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sonny. I just wouldn't be able to handle losing my sisters."

Sonny closed her eyes in disgust. "I'm not mad at you, Rose. You scared us half to death, so don't do it again." The Fire Warrior turned to Shifu Koaru. "Can you look after her, Sir?" Shifu Koaru nodded with a smile. Before leaving, Sonny spread dirt across Rose's body.

Another ball of fire was launched at the temple. Running towards the line of catapults, Sonny focused on the ball flying through the air. She made the flames abandon the rubble and sent the bright, blazing flames crashing into the catapult that sprang forth the projectile. Sonny saw the fire soldiers abandon their contraption moments before it was destroyed.

Instead of launching more flaming boulders, the soldiers released a myriad of fire punches at the approaching warrior. Sonny stopped in her tracks to use her abilities to forge the fire punches together into one giant ball of flames. Using it, she curved the giant fire ball back towards the soldiers, demolishing the line of catapults.

"Capture the Fire Warrior," ordered the leader.

The fire soldiers charged towards Sonny. She struggled but two soldiers finally restrained her. The leader, large and muscular, calmly walked up to the fire girl and his arm. A huge smile was spread across his face. "Well, Fire Warrior. How kind of you to walk into our clutches." He paused to glance at the temple before turning back to Sonny. "Of course, Lord Oromashi would pay more for all four of you, but I'm not that greedy."

"No," said Sonny, staring at the leader. "You just don't want to push your luck."

The leader closed his eyes and smiled wider. "Perhaps, but I'm not the one who needs to worry about facing the mouth of the dragon." Sonny looked past him for a moment and returned her eyes to him. The leader turned around to see a large yellow fox. Judging by its appearance, the fox wasn't solid. It was almost like it was created from wind.

The yellow fox ran towards the soldiers without a warning. The men holding Sonny let her go to flee the yellow wind animal. From behind, the Fire Warrior heard a loud roar. From the corner of her eye, she identified the familiar blue serpent-like dragon, spouting water at the soldiers.

None of that seemed to matter when the leader landed a left hook against her chin. When she was lying on the ground, her attacker said, "I don't care if I have to kill you, Fire Warrior. I'm taking you to Lord Oromashi."

Wiping away the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, she got to her feet and matched the man's stare. "It looks like we're both stubborn, and there's only one way to solve our predicament."

The leader responded with a smile and removed a knife from his obi belt. Sonny observed the knife and mocked the leader's smile. "Oh, a knife. I'm so _scared_."

The man lunged the blade at the Fire Warrior, but she dodged it. Before he could recover, Sonny rammed her elbow into his abdomen. The leader grabbed her white hair, and Sonny yelled in pain. He raised the knife, but before he could inflict any harm to Sonny, someone grabbed his wrist. The leader whirled his head around to see who was restraining him; the White Swordsman. He released Sonny to jab her rescuer in the stomach. The White Swordsman receded from the painful blow and let go of his opponent's wrist. The army leader quickly swung his knife at the man in white, leaving aa deep cut in his left arm. The White Swordsman grabbed his wound, and the blood rolled down from his arm and dripped from his fingertips.

The leader advanced on his opponent, who in return backed away. "You might not be worth anything to Lord Oromashi, but that sword would make a mighty fine prize," said the leader. Before he could kill the White Swordsman, he felt a tapping on his shoulder. The leader spun around to see the Fire Warrior. Her clothes, hair, and fingernails were glowing red.

Without any further warning, sonny landed a right hook to the leader's cheek. He retreated from the Fire Warrior, feeling the agonizing, burning pain in his face. Sonny didn't let up. She pounded her fists into his abdomen and finished with another right hook to his face.

Her opponent landed on his back and writhed in pain. Before he could get up, the White Swordsman was standing over him, holding the tip of his sword to the leader's throat. Sonny returned her appearance back to normal and stood next to the White Swordsman.

"Call off the fight," commanded the White Swordsman, "or my sword will be your prize."

The leader chuckled and said, "You don't have it in you."

The White Swordsman raised his eyebrows. "Really? Let's see. What do I have to do to convince you?" He moved his sword to the leader's arm and said, "How about your arm? I've taken a man's arm off before, haven't I, Fire Warrior?" Sonny didn't make a remark. She just stared blankly into the leader's eyes.

The White Swordsman raised his sword to strike the man's limb when the leader held up his hands. "Alright, alright." He paused a moment before shouting, "Retreat."

The fire soldiers feel back, and Sonny and the White Swordsman left the leader join them. Once they were out of sight, Sonny turned her attention to her ally's wound. "That looks pretty bad."

The White Swordsman examined the blood cut and covered it with his hand. "I'll be fine." Sonny tenderly placed her hand on his arm, and she pulled his hand away to see how deep the cut was. As she closed her palm tightly around the wound, she said, "You should get stitches. Rose can take care of it."

He gazed upon Sonny's face and saw the caring nature reflecting in the brown eyes. "That's not necessary. I can manage."

Sonny matched his stare. "Tough because I insist." She walked him back to the temple. When they reached Rose, she completely recovered from the fire. Once she saw her sister and the White Swordsman, Rose ran over to them. She caught sight of the blood stains on the man's sleeve. The Earth Warrior said, "What happened?"

"He has a deep cut. Could you please look after it, Rose?" asked Sonny.

"Of course," exclaimed Rose.

Sonny left the White Swordsman in Rose's care while she walked over to Odin ad Aki. "Odin, is everyone okay?"

"Yeah. You scared us, running into danger like that. Who is that guy?" said Odin, sticking her thumb in the White Swordsman's direction.

"He goes by the title of White Swordsman. That's all I really know about him," replied Sonny.

"Is it just me, or does his sword look an awful lot like yours, Sonny?" asked Aki.

"Yeah," answered Sonny.

Odin observed the White Swordsman for a moment, pondering. She turned her attention back to Sonny. "Do you trust him?"

The Fire Warrior looked her sister in the eyes and said, "Yes I do."

"Then we can trust him too," replied Odin. Sonny smiled, and Aki gave a little laugh. Odin remained serious and looked towards the battlefield. "I want to take a look at those machines."

Following Odin, the three warriors walked over to the catapults. "It's a little difficult to get a clear idea about these contractions when they heavily damaged," exclaimed the Wind Warrior.

"Well, I'm sorry, Odin. The next time we're in a fight, I'll make sure to save you one in case the soldiers aren't finished causing enough destruction," replied Sonny sarcastically.

Odin quietly studied the catapults. "Is there something wrong, Odin?" asked Aki. Odin glanced at her water sister and returned her attention back to the burning remains just as quickly. "I just have the feeling that I've seen this before."

Sonny squinted, and looked at the destroyed machine. "We have seen them before," said the Fire Warrior after a minute. Her sisters looked at her in confusion and waited for her to explain. "The night we fled from Lee Wong's home with Master, we passed it on the way out. It was covered in dust, but I'm pretty sure that it's the same," said Sonny.

Odin turned her attention back to the destroyed contraption. "You're right, Sonny. Considering that Lord Oromashi had his men using this invention, who knows what else they'll have in store for us," said the Wind Warrior.

While they were having their conversation at the temple, the White Swordsman patiently watched the three warriors as Rose stitched up his cut. During her work, Rose looked up at the White Swordsman's face. She blushed before saying, "Thank you for helping Sonny when she went into the guest house to rescue me."

The White Swordsman watched the trio walk out onto the field where the fight had taken place. His eyes didn't leave Sonny, even when he said, "You're welcome."

When she finished with the stitches, she broke off the material and created a long narrow leaf with little thin leaves branching off from it. "What's that?" asked the White Swordsman, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"It's yarrow. It acts like an antiseptic," answered Rose shyly.

"Oh," replied the White Swordsman with little enthusiasm. He turned his attention back to Sonny and her two sisters. Rose noticed is actions and blushed. She really didn't want to distract him from what he truly wanted to focus on. "Um, would you like me to use your bloody sleeve as the final bandage?"

Drawing his attention to her, eh tore his bloody sleeve off and tore off his other sleeve. He said, "Here," as he handed Rose the clean cloth. She wrapped the yarrow around his wound and used his sleeve to tie over it. "There. Be careful though, you could have an allergic reaction the yarrow. It would most likely be a rash."

The White Swordsman stood up and examined the bandage. "Thanks, and I'll keep that in mind." Rose replied with a smile. They both looked to the horizon and saw that three women returning from the battlefield. Once they stood face to face, Odin said, "We're very grateful for what you've done, White Swordsman." She bowed to him, and so did the rest of the Element Warriors.

When Sonny stood straight, she noticed the White Swordsman's bare arms. His arms weren't bulky, but they were muscular enough to peak sonny's interest. The White Swordsman didn't seem to notice.

"I'd better go," said the White Swordsman. He turned and walked away.

They turned to Shifu Koaru and the rest of the monks. "Are you okay, Rose-chan?" asked Shifu Koaru, concerned.

"I'm fine Shifu Koaru."

"Shifu Koaru, we're terribly sorry about all this," said Odin.

"Nonsense. What happened isn't your fault. We'll just work and rebuild everything," replied Shifu Koaru with a reassuring smile. Glancing in the direction in which the White Swordsman left, Odin said, "We should be heading out too, Shifu Koaru."

"Of course. Thank you for your company. Let peace be with you wherever you go," said Shifu Koaru. He and the other monks bowed them, which the Element Warriors returned. The other monks waved good-bye as they left.

When the temple was out of sight, Aki looked over at Odin. The Wind Warrior's head was held up high. "Odin, are you okay?" asked Aki.

"Yeah, Aki," answered Odin. She smiled and let out a breath of triumph. "I'm alright now." The girl of wind felt something she thought she lost: confidence and peace.

_Four Years Later_

Kagen Kurogane walked across the grounds to the fully grown tree. Its trunk was a yard wide and 30 feet high with radiant green leaves. Uncle Kagen looked up and admired the beauty of the myriad of red, white, blue, and yellow roses among the trees.

Shifu Koaru stood next to Kagen and examined the tree. "Rose left behind a beautiful tree when she was unconscious in the burning guest house," said Shifu Koaru.

"Indeed she did," replied Uncle Kagen. A tear came to his eye. After a moment, Shifu Koaru asked, "How is our nephew doing?"

"He misses them, even though he won't admit it. He thinks about the girls often," replied Uncle Kagen. He paused a moment before saying, "Thank you for giving the girls your hospitality. I know they were grateful."

"Of course. After all, you went through the trouble f bringing me back to the temple when I was lost," exclaimed Shifu Koaru. The two men smiled as they continued to admire the beauty of the tree.


End file.
